The Walking Dead
by JHawk96
Summary: The world we knew is gone. The dead have risen to feed on the e living cannot be trusted. Starving. Never safe. Looking for hope. How will they survive? And if anyone has ever played The Walking Dead by Telltale Games, this story is basically it. Just a few edits. This fanfiction is for my enjoyment, but if any of you also enjoy it, I'm glad you do.
1. Chapter 1

It was April in 2012. It was a nice, sunny, Georgia afternoon. There happened to be a police car passing by. In the back seat, there was a black man, with a blue long sleeves buttoned up shirt with hand cuffs around both his wrists. He was just looking down, speechless. The officer who was driving adjusted his rear-view mirror so that he could look at the man in the back.

"Well I reckon you didn't do it then." Said the officer.

"Why do you say that?" Asked the man in response.

"Because I've been doing do this a long time. Usually by now I'd get the "I didn't do it" crap." The officer said.

"Every time?" Asked the man.

"Yep. Every time." The officer responded.

The man in the back was looking out the window and so happens to see a lot of polish cars and SWAT trucks passing by on the other lane. He was curious to know what was going on but didn't feel like it was any of his business. Probably since he's going to prison.

"I followed your case a little bit. You being a Macon boy and all." The officer said.

"So you're from Macon then?" Asked the man in the back.

"Sure am. Came up to become a cop in the 70s."

"Really? I was born in 74."

The officer chuckled. "I became a cop in 73."

"Oh wow." The man said, shaking his head looking down with a grin on his face."

The man looked out the window again and saw a few helicopters fly by in the sky. Now he was really curious and was about to ask the officer what was going on. But before he could get a word out, the officer unintentionally cut him off.

"So I was driving this man once, and wouldn't stop going on about how "he didn't do it." He was an older fella than you were I believe. He was crying and snotting all over, right where you're sitting. Then I hear him start whining. "Mama! It was a big mistake! It wasn't me!"

"So did he do it?" The man asked curiously.

"They caught the fucker red handed! Stabbing his wife right as the boys came into the house. He screams bloody damn murder that it wasn't him! He actually believed it himself.. That shows you right there, people will up and go mad when they believe their life is over."

The officer slightly turned his head away to look at the man taking his eyes off the road for a while. He was about to tell him another story.

The man in the back looked up front and noticed a figure walking in the road.

"WATCH OUT!' The man screamed.

The officer hit the figure and started swerving and ran off the cliff. The car was rolling down the hill.

The man was half conscious and noticed walking figures passing by the car, he also heard terrifying screams. He thinks that it was the police officer. He also heard gunshots fired. Then the man went fully unconscious. He woke up a few hours later. He was slowly getting up and noticed a bad gash on his leg.

"Ahhhhh.. fuck.. my leg." He said in agonizing pain as he looked at his cut. He looked out the back window and noticed the officer laying on the ground, not moving.

"Officer..?" The man asked. He continued looking around the police car for a way to get out somehow. He noticed the broken window next to him. The window was all cracked up. He used his good leg to kick the window open. It took him 4 kicks to knock the window all the way out. He then slid across the seat and got out through the window and fell to the ground.

He slowly got up but lost his balance for a second and hit his cut leg onto the door. "Ow dammit!" The man said in pain. He walked around the car and walked towards the officer who was still lying motionless on the ground. He noticed a shotgun and a shotgun bullet on the ground separated from each other. He slowly reached down to grab the bullet and put it in his pocket.

The man walked up to the officer and saw the key to get the handcuffs off of him. He carefully reached down for the keys and quickly grabbed them. He attempted to unlock the cuffs but accidentally dropped the key and the key fell right in front of the officers face. The man looked in fear and hesitantly grab the keys. He managed to get the cuffs off this time.

Then the officer started to show some signs of life. Or at least the man thought he did.

"Officer? You ok?.." The man asked.

The officer then bounced and tried to grab the man. The officer had became a walker but the man still didn't know what was wrong. The man fell in shock and back crawled away from the officer who was crawling towards the man.

"What the fuck?! What the hell are you?! What happened?!" The man panicked.

He then reached into his pocked and pulled out the shotgun bullet he picked up earlier. He reached for the shotgun to load it but the bullet slips outta his hand. He quickly picked it up again and successfully loaded the gun.

"Stop! Don't make me do this!" The man warned him. The officer was still crawling towards the man. So that made the man pull the trigger and blow the officer's head off. He/ or it was dead instantly. The man tossed the shotgun and had his mouth opened in utter disbelief. He just couldn't stop looking at the dead corpse.

He finally did look up and noticed someone standing from a far distance. The person was just watching. The man waved his hand up and called for help. He told the person to go get someone. The person in the far distance ran off.

The man was still sitting on the ground in front of the dead officer then heard something come around a tree. It was another walker and it was slowly walking. The man got up and noticed that there were more walkers in the woods. He even saw one sitting up against a tree, reaching for him. The man fell a few times but got up each time before he was caught. There was a fence up ahead and the man tried his best to climb up over it, which he did. He fell into someone's backyard. The walkers were trying to push the fence over. But then they heard gunshots from what sounded far away. The walkers then left to follow the noise.

The man got up and surveyed the area he was in. "Hello?" The man called to see if anybody was around. He saw a treehouse in the backyard and walked towards it. "Is anybody up there?" He got no answer. Assuming no one was up there he walked up to the house's backyard door, which was a screendoor and knocked on it a few times. He was in need of help. He walked in. "Coming in.. Don't shoot okay?" The man nicely warned them.

"Hello? I'm not an intruder. Or one of them.." The man looked around and saw how devastating the house looked. "These people may need more help than I do." He said to himself. He looked around the house for a while and realized that no one was home. He heard a beeping now. It was an answering machine. "You have 3 new messages." The machine said. The man played the machine and continued looking around the house. The machine was playing.

"You have three new messages. 1st message left at 5:48 PM."

"Hey Sandra this is Diana speaking! Ed had a little incident with some crazy guy near the hotel so we had to go to the ER and get him checked out. So he doesn't feel well enough to drive back tonight so we're staying an extra day. Thanks so much for looking after Clementine and I promise we'll be back for your spring break." The first message ended.

"2nd message left at 11:19 PM."

"Oh my God finally. I don't know if you've tried to reach us. All the calls are getting dropped. They're not letting us leave and aren't telling us anything about Atlanta. Please just take Clementine with you back to Marietta. I've-I've gotta get back to the hospital. Please let me know that you're safe.." The second message ended.

"3rd message left left at 6:51 AM."

"Clementine.. baby.. If you hear this, call the police.. That's 9-1-1. We love you.. we love you.. we love y-" The last message ended.

The man looked saddened after after the last message. He then found a picture of a family. The parents and their daughter. He picked it up and looked at it for a while.

"Daddy?" Said a voice around the house. The man looked around to see where the noise was coming from. He walked into the kitchen where there was a puddle of blood. He stepped over it with a disgusted look on his face as he looked down at it. He was opening drawers and found a walkie talkie. He grabbed it and walked outta the kitchen. He walked up towards the screendoor and held the walkie talkie to his face. "Hello?" He asked into it.

"You need to be quiet." The voice said back to him. It sounded like the voice of a little girl. The man was quiet for a couple seconds then spoke again.

"I'm not a monster." The man replied.

"Good." The girl replied back to him. There was then a pause for just a couple second.

"What's your name?" The man asked her.

"Clementine." The girl answered.

"Hi Clementine. I'm Lee." So now we know that "the man's" name is Lee.

"You're not my dad.." Clementine said a little saddened.

"No.. I'm not." Another pause.

"How old are you?" Lee asked.

"8.." Clementine answered.

"And you're alone?" Lee asked in disbelief.

"Yea. I don't where anyone is. How old are you?"

"I'm uhh.. 37.." Lee said.

"Oh.." Clem shortly answered.

"Where are your parents?" Asked Lee.

"They went on vacation and left me with a babysitter. They're in Savannah, I think. Where the boats are?" Clem said.

"Are you safe?" Lee asked with concern.

"I'm outside in my treehouse. They can't get in."

"That's smart."

"See? Can you see me? I can see you through the window." Clementine said as she opened her treehouse door and waved at Lee. Lee waved back at her. Clementine noticed something behind Lee.

"BEHIND YOU!" Clem screamed.

Lee quickly looked behind him and noticed a walker had approached him from behind. Lee screamed and grabbed the walker's arms as the walker was trying to fight out. Lee pushed the walker away and down on the ground. He was crawling away and slipped on the puddle of blood and hit his head on a table. The knocked him out a little for a few seconds then noticed the walker almost had him and he kicked it away. He got up and got tripped up by the walker and punched it away this time. Clementine came up and opened the door with a hammer in her hand.

"Here!" She shouted to knee to grab it. He grabbed the hammer and started hitting the walker with it. It took 5 shots to finally kill the walker.

"Man..." Lee said in exhaustion as he put his hands on his knees. He looked over at Clementine and stood up straight. There was blood spreading on the ground from the now-dead walker.

"Did you kill it?" She asked Lee. She took a few small steps back so the blood wouldn't get on her shoes. Clementine was dressed in a white sleeveless blouse with jeans. She also had a hat on that had the letter D on the front of it.

"I don't know.. Um, I think so." Lee answered her.

"Sometimes they come back." Clementine said with a little fear.

"Have you killed one?" Lee asked Clem.

"No but they get shot a lot.." Clem said.

Lee went to a knee. "You've been all by yourself through this?" Lee asked a little sorrowful.

"Yea. I want my parents to come home now." Clem said with sadness.

"I think that might be a little while.. ya know?" Lee told her.

"Oh.." Clementine said as she looked down.

Lee walked up a little closer to her. "Look, I don't know what happened. But I'll look after you until then." Lee assured her.

Clem looked back up and looked at him. "What should we do now?" Clem asked Lee.

"We need to find help before it gets dark." He told her.

"Yea it's not safe at night." Clem agreed.

"Alright then." Lee stood up and faced the door with Clementine. They grabbed each other's hands.

"Let's go. Stay close to me." She looked up at him, nodding her head. They both walked out of the house.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee and Clementine stood outside on the house's porch. Clementine took a final look inside the house before closing it. She then looked up at Lee. He smiled at her and she smiled back. They walked down the stairs and was heading out of the gate of Clementine's house. Before heading out they see two other guys outside of the gate. They look like they had a car crash or something. They were just conversating and trying to fix their problem. They were unaware of Lee and Clem since the two guys had their backs turned away. Lee starts to walk towards the gate, but not Clementine. He notices it.

Lee comes back and kneels down to talk to Clementine. "What's the matter?" He asked her.

"Should I stay?" Clem asked while looking back at her house.

"Huh?" Lee asked curiously.

"I don't wanna sleep in the trouhouse tonight but I don't know if I should leave.. What if my parents come home?" Clem stated.

"I'm not gonna leave you alone." Lee assured her.

That put a grin on Clem's face. "Let's just go somewhere safe that's close. Okay?"

"Good idea." Said Lee as he stood up and they both headed out of the gate. "Hey man!" Lee burst out trying to get the two guy's attention as he approached them.

They both turn around startled. "Holy shit! Don't eat us!" One shouted.

"We're not gonna hurt you." Lee calmly said, putting both his hands up.

"Phew. For a second I thought you and the little one were both gonna give us the chomp." One of the guys said, slightly giggling.

"Do you know what the hell this is?!" Lee shouted.

"No! So you've seen them then?!" The guys said as he looked at one walker on the road. It was dead.

"Yea you can say that." Lee said.

"I'm Shawn by the way. Shawn Green." One of the guys introduced himself.

"I'm Lee. And this is Clementine." Lee responded as he put a hand on Clementine's shoulder.

"I'm Chet." The other guy said after he squatted and waved at Clementine with a smile on his face. She returned a smile back at him.

"Hey Lee. Could you help us out here? We have a problem. We had a little crash. We just need a little push and we'll take you and your daughter back to my family's farm. It'll be safer there." Shawn said.

"I'm not her dad.. I'm.. just some guy." Lee corrected.

"Some guy?" Shawn said with curiosity.

Yea." Lee answered.

"She's alone?" Shawn asked while looking down at Clementine.

"Yea. I'm gonna take care of her until we find her parents." Lee assured.

"You're a good man Lee." Said Shawn.

"Guys those monsters are coming!" Chet said as he was pointing to a few walkers who were coming towards us.

"Lee help us out here!" Shawn said.

Shawn and Lee pushed the trust back as hard as they could. And for good measure, Clementine came in for good measure to help Shawn and Lee. They everyone got into the truck. Chet got onto the trunk and Shawn, Lee, and Clem sat on the inside. Shawn then quickly drove away. Clementine was looking in the back window watching the walkers as they were driving away.

"For just some guy, it seems like you saved a lot of lives today." Shawn told Lee.

"Nah, but my life was saved." Lee said as he smiled at Clementine. She gave a smile back to him and looked to the front.

A few hours had passed and it was night time. The group was still driving as they were coming up to Shawn's farm. Lee and Clementine looked at each other and smiled then looked back to the front. Shawn was pulling up to the farm. Everyone then got out.

"Hey man, I'm gonna head home before my mama haves a fit." Chet said to Shawn.

"No sweat man, I'll catch ya tomorrow." Shawn replied.

"It was nice to meet you both." Chet said to both Lee and Clementine, as he walked off and they gave him a wave.

The front door of the house and out came an old man. He saw Shawn and smiled. "Thank God you're ok." The man said walking up to Shawn.

"I was worried it'd be bad here too." Shawn said as he hugged the man and the man hugged back.

"Nah son. We're good.. we're good." Said the man. The man noticed Lee and Clem. "So I see you've brought a couple guest."

"Your boy's a lifesaver." Lee told the man.

"Well that's good." Said the man. "So it's just you and your daughter then.."

"Oh no. He's not her dad. He's just some guy who found her all alone.' Shawn corrected the man.

The man squatted down and looked at Clementine. "Honey, do you know this man?" The man asked Clementine.

"...yes.." Clem said.

"Ok then..." The man said. He believe her too. He notices Lee's leg. "Looks like you hurt your leg pretty bad there."

"Yea. It's not feeling so good." Lee told the man.

"I think I can do something. Shawn go in the house and check up on your sister. You, go sit on the bench. I'll be right back." The man nicely ordered.

Shawn and the man went in the house and Lee sat on the bench that was on the porch. Clem followed him. The man came back with medical tape and squatted down in front of Lee.

"Let's take a look at that leg, shall we?" The man said. He looked at Lee's leg and whistled. "Ouch! This looks swollen to hell."

"Could be worse." Lee positively said.

"I guess it was as bad as I thought.. What did you say your name was?" The man asked Lee. The man started taping Lee's leg up.

"It's Lee." Lee answered.

"Well nice to meet you Lee. I'm Hershel Greene." Hershel kindly responded. "How'd this happen?" Hershel asking about Lee's cut leg.

"Car accident." Lee said.

"Really? Where were you headed?" Asked Hershel.

"Out of Atlanta." Lee replied.

"The news said stay." Hershel reminded him.

"Yea well so much for that. We hit.. one of those things you've been hearing about." Lee told him.

"Who were you with? The girl?" Hershel asked.

"I was with a police officer. Let's just say, he was giving me a ride." Lee said. Hershel believed him.

"Awful nice of him." Hershel jokingly said.

"I'm an awful nice guy." Lee joked back.

Hershel finished taping Lee's leg. "There. You're all fixed up."

"Thanks." Lee said.

Hershel looked back at Clementine. "I didn't catch your name darling.".

"Clementine.." Clementine gave Hershel her name.

"Can't imagine what you've been through Clementine." Hershel said looking a little sadden.

"I'm looking after her until we find her parents." Lee said.

"That's good. Hope you do. But the house is full up with mine. We got another displaced family in the farm. You and your daughter are welcome in there."

"Thanks." Lee thanked him.

"Yep. We got blankets and stuff like that in the barn too. We'll be getting up bright and early to fortify this place. Come tomorrow which way you think you're headed?"Said Hershel.

"Towards Macon I suppose." Lee answered surely.

Hershel gave a nod then looked at Clementine and gave a smile as he walked into his house and closed the door.

"Ok then." Lee said.

Lee and Clementine walked into the barn and laid on sleeping bags. Clementine sniffed with a disgusted look on her face.

"It smells like.." Clem said but didn't finish.

"Manure." Lee said, finishing her sentence.

"Manure? Like when a horse.. plops?" Clem said with another disgusted look on her face.

"Yep. Just like that." Lee said chuckling.

"..I miss my mom and dad." Clem said to Lee.

"I bet Clem." Lee responded.

"How far is Savannah?" She asked.

"Pretty far.." Lee responded.

"Oh ok.." Clem said as she starts to fall asleep.

Lee looks over at her as she's going to sleep. He looks away and looks straight up ahead. He goes to sleep afterwards. He starts to hear a voice in his head.

"I love you baby." Said the voice. It was the voice of a woman. Then he hears something smashing as the woman starts to screams. Lee pops up panting and looks around and realizes it was just a dream. He calmed down and laid back down. He goes to sleep this time.


	3. Chapter 3

After a good night of sleep, Lee was awaken by one of the displaced family members Hershel mentioned last night.

"Hey get up!" The man said to wake Lee. He started to sit up. Clementine was already up. She was standing next to Lee.

"I'm itchy." Clem said while scratching her arm.

"Well you slept in a barn little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." The man joked.

Clementine gasped and started shaking her curly hair.

"But I bet your daddy scared them all away." The man chuckled.

"Oh I'm not her dad. The name's Lee."

"I'm Kenny."

A boy then peaked around the barn's door. He was only a little older than Clementine. "Dad we're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" The boy said.

"Well we better get a move on, or we'll never hear the end of it." Kenny told Lee. Kenny, Lee and Clem walked outta the barn.

"That's my son by the way. Kenny Jr. We call him duck though." Said Kenny.

"Duck? Dodging or quacking?" Lee said with a funny grin.

"Quacking." Kenny answered.

"DAAAAAD!" Duck quacked.

"See? That's what I'm talkin' about." Kenny told Lee. They walked up to Duck and what appeared to be Kenny's wife.

"Katjaa. This is Lee. And what's the girl's name?" Kenny asked Lee.

"Clementine." Lee answered.

"Clementine." Kenny told Katjaa.

"That is a very nice name." Katjaa said nicely with a smile on her face looking at Clementine.

"Thanks." Clem responded nicely. Kinda shy.

"Heard you were on your way to Macon." Kenny said to Lee.

"My family's from there." Lee said with a smile on his face.

"Well Macon's on the way and personally I wouldn't mind tagging along with a guy who would knock a couple of heads together if he has to." Kenny said grinning.

"I'll see what the girl would like." Lee assured Kenny.

"Ah. Gotta consult the missus. I understand." Kenny said. Shawn walked up to the group as they were talking.

"Well we better get a move on. We've all seen what those things can do out there. The sooner we reinforce this place the better." Shawn told everyone.

"I wanna build a fence!" Duck happily shouted.

"Yea? Well I need a good foreman. You can yell at me whenever I take a whatever break. Said Shawn.

"On the tractor? Cool!" Duck said.

"Duck and I will hop to it." Shawn and Duck walked off to do their jobs.

"I can keep an eye on your little girl. We can visit." Katjaa said to Lee. Clementine sat on a log with Katjaa right next to her. Kenny went off to get his truck up and running. After a few minutes, Lee went to go talk to the people he just met. After he spoke to everyone and learned something about them, he went to speak to Shawn, who he never got a chance to really just talk to.

Lee saw Duck on the tractor pretending to drive it. Lee waved a Duck waved back.

"How ya doing Duck?" Lee asked.

"Good! I'm gonna ride the tractor! I'm your foreman. Lift with your back Shawn!" Duck exclaimed.

Lee then spoke to Shawn. Lee was helping Shawn by cutting the boards for reinforcing the fence. Lee and Shawn had a good conversation. Lee was about to walk off, but he came back.

"And Shawn, thanks again. For the ride." Lee kindly said.

"No problem Lee. I couldn't leave you or Clementine behind." Shawn said with a smile. "But anyway, if you see my dad, he'd probably need some help in the barn. Lee looked towards to barn and saw Hershel walking inside. Lee headed towards it.

Lee walked in and Hershel looked up at him. Hershel was stacking the hay in the barn.

Hershel was asking about Lee's story. Lee was being honest and Hershel could tell Lee was telling the truth.

"Can I give you a bit of advice?" Hershel asked Lee as he stuck his pitchfork into the ground.

"Sure." Lee responded kindly.

"I don't know who you are or what you did. But let's say things don't get better back in the city, or they get worse before they do. You're gonna have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're gonna make it. And if people start to question yours, you're gonna be in trouble." Hershel said to Lee. "But at least you have the common sense to a man giving you advice." Hershel said smiling.

Then there was a scream coming from where Shawn and Duck were.

"Go! I'll get my gun!" Hershel ordered.

Lee ran up to the area where Duck and Shawn were. Shawn was on the ground. Duck accidentally started the tractor and it ran into Shawn's leg. Shawn couldn't move. He got stuck. Duck looked frightened. Then walkers appeared from outside the fence. One grabbed Duck by his shoulders. And there were two other walkers leaning down on the fence, reaching for Shawn. They both were screaming for help. Lee panicked but he helped Duck first. He tried pulling Duck away but to no avail. Kenny then came and pulled Duck away with Lee and it worked. Kenny held Duck. "I gotcha!" Kenny assured his son.

"Now Shawn!" Lee shouted. "Kenny help Lee!" Shawn screamed. Kenny looked frightened and took a few steps back before running off.

"Kenny!" Shawn shouted.

Lee tries to push the tractor back but couldn't. He then tried to pull Shawn by the arms but that didn't work either. Afterwards, the fence gave in to the weight of the walkers and broke. One of the walkers bit into Shawn's neck. He screamed in pain. Clementine witnessed what happened and she looked in fear. Hershel came with his rifle and saw what was happening. He looked sad but shot the walkers. He headshotted all 3 of them. He then went up to check on his son.

"I'm ok pop.." Shawn said quietly.

"Don't worry. We'll stitch you up. You're gonna be fine." Hershel calmly reassured him.

"It.. it almost got my man.. Lee tried to save me." Shawn and Hershel looked at Lee. Hershel tried to comfort Shawn by rubbing his hair.

"I... I..." Shawn couldn't finish. He slowly died from the blood lost.

Hershel was completely saddened and he rested his head against his son's head. After a little while he looked up.

"Get out..." Hershel ordered them. "Get the fuck outta here!" Hershel shouted looking angry.

"I'm sorry.." Kenny said looking down.

"Sorry? Your son is alive you don't get to be sorry!" Hershel exclaimed. He then looked at Lee. "You tried to help him, but this piece of shit let him die!"

Lee looked at Kenny then back at Hershel. "I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry." Lee said as he took the blame. Kenny looked surprised.

"If your girl is in trouble, you better hope you get strong enough. Or hope your friends aren't cowards!" Hershel shouted.

"Please.. just go. Get out, and never come back!" Yelled Hershel. He went back to check on his son.

Lee walked in front of Kenny and looked at him. Kenny looked up and looked back at him. Kenny and Katjaa then looked at Clementine, who stared back at them.

"You've got that ride to Macon if you want it." Said Kenny. Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck walked away to the truck. Lee and Clementine followed shortly after.


	4. Chapter 4

The group was driving, on their way to Macon. After a while passed by, they finally made it. Then the truck starts to run out of gas and it turns off.

"Well, this is as far as we're goin'." Kenny said looking around at the buildings around. "Well it's far enough." Lee said getting out of the truck. He waited for Clementine to get out and then he closed the door. The whole group got out the truck and started walking around. Lee looked up at a building, which happened to be the drugstore that his parents own. The rest of the group was still looking around, Duck spotted someone and pointed in their direction.

"Look!" He told everyone. Kenny notices the person too and tries to get their attention.

"Hey there!" Shouted Kenny while waving his arms. "You friendly? Truck's run out of gas." He finished.

The person turned around, but it wasn't a person. It was a walker, eating a human body from the ground.

"FUCK!" Kenny startled. Then right before their eyes, there were walkers coming from every corner. The group was almost surrounded by them.

"We're trapped!" Cried out Katjaa. Duck was then grabbed by a walker. Duck fell to the ground screaming. He was saved by a random gunshot. The walker's blood was on him and he pushed it off of him.

There was a woman who was saving them, shooting walkers and killing the ones who were close to anybody. Then a guy who was at the front of the drugstore gate appeared. He saw what was happening.

"Run!" Yelled the guy.

The group then ran to the gate and into the building. The guy had then closed the gate and put a locker on it before the walkers got there. He ran inside after that. And inside, they had a group of there own.

"We can't take risks like this." Says one of the members. It was a woman.

"And we just can't let people die either!" Says the woman who saved us.

"When I say that door stays shut no matter what, I fucking mean it!" Exclaimed the woman. "We don't know who these people are." The woman said.

"Or worst, they could've lead those things straight to us." Says another member. It was an old man.

"Where the hell is your humanity?! They could've died out there!" Says the woman that saved us.

"Then we let'em." Replied the old man.

"We have kids with us!" Lee reasoned.

"I only see one little girl!" Larry said.

Clementine grabbed Lee's hand, getting his attention. He looked down at her.

"What wrong?" Lee asked her.

"I-.. I have to pee." Clem answered.

"In a minute Clem." Lee told her.

"They've got kids Lilly!" Said the guy from the gate.

"Those things out there don't care." The woman says.

"Well maybe you should go join'em then! You'll have something in common!" Kenny exclaimed.

"Goddammit Lilly! You gotta control these people!" The old man shouted.

"Carley and Glenn ran out there on their own, dad." Says the woman.

"Look we're just people trying to survive alright? We're just people! We're not dangerous." Lee assured everyone.

Then another person came out one of the rooms in the store. It was the office. He heard all the ruckus so he came out and checked what was wrong.

"Whoa guys, what's all the noise about?!" He asked curiously.

"Nothing Naje. Just dealing with a problem."

Lee then looked at Naje with wide opened eyes. Naje then noticed Lee and looked at him with shock.

"Naje?"

"Mr. Everett?"

They then hugged each other then pulled away. It was apparent that the two already knew each other.

"Wow man.. it's good to see you." Lee said smiling.

"You too Mr. Everett." Naje said smiling back.

"Wait, Naje, you know this guy?" Lilly asked with a curious face. Naje looked at Lilly then back at Lee.

"Yea I do. He was once a college teacher of mine back at the University of Georgia." Said Naje.

"It's true." Lee backed him up.

Naje then looked at Clementine who looked back at him. "This your daughter?" Naje asked. "You never told me you had one."

"Oh nah. She's not my daughter. I'm just looking after her." Lee corrected Naje.

Naje looked at Clementine again. "So.. where's her parents?" Naje said looking saddened.

Before Lee could finish, he was interrupted by Larry, who spotted Duck covered in the walker blood.

"Ho-ly shit. Son of a bitch! One of them was bitten!" Hollered Larry to the group.

"He wasn't bitten!" Lee assured him, shaking his head.

"Bullcrap!" Larry bursted. "We have to end this now." Larry said walking over to Duck. Larry was cut in front of by Kenny.

"Over my dead damn body." Warned Kenny.

"Well dig one hole, mister." Larry said staring down Kenny.

"No I'm cleaning him up. He's not bitten! He's fine!" Katjaa said trying to calm everyone.

"Don't you fucking people get it?!" Larry shouted. "We've already seen this shit happen. We let someone with a bite stay an-and we all end up getting bitten!" He finished.

"He's not bitten!" Lee reminded him.

"We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in." Larry exclaimed.

"Kenny! Stop him!" Cried out Katjaa.

"Lee! What do we do with this guy?" Kenny asked Lee, getting him involved.

"We kick his ass!" Lee replied with intense.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kenny agreed.

"No guys calm down, alright? No one's doing anything." Naje said trying to settle the situation.

"Yea everyone just chill the fuck out!" Screamed Carley.

"Just let it go dad." Lilly said, trying to calm her father down.

"Shut up Lilly." Larry said. Larry looked at Carley. "And you. Shut the fuck up!" Larry looked at everyone else. "They will find us, and they will get in here, and none of this will fucking matter! But in a matter of moments we're about to be trapped in here with one of those things!" Shouted Larry.

"The fuck are you talking about?" Kenny angrily, but curiously said.

"He's bitten! That's how you turn!" Larry told him.

"He's not bitten!" Kenny assured.

"He is! She'll find the bite. Watch." Larry said as if he was sure.

"No she won't because there is no bite!" Kenny said. He was getting a bit aggravated.

"Well let's just wait for the lady to clean him up at least. They should know what they're talking about since they were the ones out there with the little boy. I'm sure they either witnessed what happened and what didn't happen." Naje speeched.

"No way! I've already made my decision. No more talking. We're tossing him out now!" Larry roared.

"NO! You don't touch that boy! You don't touch anyone!" Yelled Lee. "I've got a little girl who I'm trying to protect too. You wanna get violent you old fuck?! Well let's get violent! You just better have a plan to kill me though because it's me before anyone else in here!" Lee shouted with fury. Right when things were about to go bad, Clementine let out a scream near the bathroom door. Everyone looked over at her. Coming out of the bathroom was a walker. It almost had a hold of Clementine but she was trapped. Everyone looked in fear and shocked.

"Jesus!" Shouted Larry.

"Clementine!" Lee yelled while limping towards her because he leg was still a little sore. He then fell and hit his head a little on the floor. He regained consciousness and was able to get up and run towards Clementine and the walker and pulled it away from her.

"Get away from her you son of a bitch!" Lee shouted while pulling the walker. The walker then tried to attack Lee. Lee was holding the walker back but barely. After struggling for a short while, the walker was then shot and killed and fell to the ground. Lee looked over and saw that it was Carley. Coming to the rescue again. Everyone had a sigh of relief.

"Thanks." Lee said to Carley. Clem stood next to Lee, covering her mouth with both of her hands. She couldn't believe what just happened.

"No problem."

"Uh.. guys?" Glenn quietly said looking around. The walkers were pushing up against the walls, trying to barge in after hearing the gunshot. Everyone then got down and got quiet. There were gunshots heard from outside.

"Is that the military?" Lee whispered.

"I don't know." Lilly said cluelessly.

"Thank God for whatever it is." Glenn happily said.

"We almost died because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! That was stupid! That was-" Larry all of a sudden fell to the ground holding his chest, groaning in pain.

"Dad!" Lilly screamed as she went down and checked on her dad.

"What's wrong with him?!" Lee shouted.

"It's his heart." Lilly sadly said.

"My pills.." Said Larry.

"Nitroglycerin pills?" Asked Katjaa.

"Yea! I was trying to get in the office and look for the keys that go to the door with all the medicine while you guys had came, but I couldn't find them anywhere." Naje said.

"Please.. could you help? Try getting in there? Where the pills are!" Lilly asked Lee.

"We'll get in there somehow." Lee promises.

"Thank you so much." Lilly kindly said.

"Everyone else should get some rest." Said Kenny.

"I don't think this drugstore is our permanent solution." Glenn said.

"You're right. This isn't exactly Fort Knox." Kenny joked.

"What do you think we do then?" Lee asked Glenn.

"We need as much gas as we can so we can all get outta here." Glenn exclaimed.

"Yea you're right." Lee agreed.

"Then I'll head out. There's a motor inn not to far from here. I can go and get some gas and supplies and whatever else we may need." Glenn told everyone.

"You know your way around? Local?" Lee asked curiously?

"Born and raised." Glenn proudly said.

"Well just to stay in touch and keep us on the lowdown, here's a walkie talkie." Lee handed Glenn one of Clem's radios.

"Cool."

"Clementine has the other one. Check in with her if you need to." Lee told Glenn.

"Got it." Glenn headed out the door connected to the office.

"And you. What's your name?" Kenny asked.

"Lilly. My dad's Larry." She answered.

"Well you just sit tight. These boys'll work on getiin' that medicine." He assured her.

"That's right." Said Lee.

"And you?" Kenny asked one of the members who was never mentioned.

"It's Doug." He replied.

"Ok Doug, you're our lookout. Keep and eye outside." Kenny ordered.

"I'm on it." Doug said nodding his head.

"And I'm Carley." Carley said introducing herself.

"Ok Carley, you'll shift in with Doug when he needs it. But for now get some rest. You're a good shot. I'd like to keep it that way." Kenny said.

"You got it got." Replied Carley. Lilly didn't like that. She had a distasteful look on her face.

"And you. Naje is it? Kenny asked.

"That's right." Naje said.

"Alright Naje. You can look around here and see if you can find anything in here that can be somehow useful." Kenny said to him.

"I already did. But I guess I can double check." Naje said.

"Good thanks. Now let's get him those pills."


	5. Chapter 5

Everyone was just sitting around, doing their jobs. They were waiting to get a word from Glenn so they all just stayed put. Doug was on lookout, Carley was trying to get some radio working, Kenny, Duck, and Katjaa were just resting, Naje was looking around the store for a second time in case he missed anything, and Clementine was sitting down in a chair holding her walkie talkie, waiting to see if Glenn would contact them through it.

Lee walked up to Clementine and kneeled before her. "You ok?" He asked her. "Mhmm." She said.

"Can I get you anything?" Lee asked.

"Well I am a little hungry." Clem answered.

"I'll see what I can do about that." Lee assured her. "Ok, thanks." Clem said with a smile on her face.

"No problem." Lee said smiling back at her, as he stood back up.

Lee went to Naje. "Need help?" Lee asked, wanting to help.

"No sir, I'm about done." Naje answered kindly. "I found a few energy bars though. You can give them to whoever. I don't really know who to give them to. Give one to that little girl for sure. What's her name again?"

"It's Clementine." Lee said.

"Clementine." Naje repeated as he snapped his fingers. "So where's her parents?" Naje asked with concern.

"They're in Savannah on vacation. They left Clem with a babysitter until they got back. The babysitter ended up turning into.. one of those things. Clementine spent days on her own. I found her in her treehouse." Lee informed.

"No way.. really?" Said a shocked Naje. "Well what about you? How'd you even make it here? Because.." Naje paused. "I heard on the news that you were heading to jail for a crime you committed." Naje whispered.

"Yea well.. those things appeared and I had a wreck. I managed to escape those things and that's when I met Clementine." Lee told him.

"Well it's a good thing you're taking care of her. If you need any help with her, I'm your guy." Naje nicely said.

"Thanks Naje." Lee thanks him.

"No problem Mr. Everett." Naje replied.

"Naje please. You don't have to call me Mr. Everett no more. Just call me Lee." Said Lee.

Naje chuckled. "Ok Lee."

"I'm gonna go talk to Clementine." Naje told Lee.

"Alright yea. Go get to know her. I'm gonna check on everyone else and then try to find a way to get those keys to get that medicine." Lee said.

They then went on to do what they said they were gonna do. Naje walked up to Clementine and kneeled down in front of her. She looked up at him with a smile on her face.

"Hey Clementine. Are you doing ok?" Goes Naje with a smile on his face.

"I'm good. How are you?" She asked him.

"I'm doing good too." He kindly responded.

"I like your shirt." Clementine complimented. Naje was wearing a Georgia Bulldogs football shirt.

"Aw thanks. You a Georgia Bulldogs fan?" He asked smiling.

"Sure am. I've been one for a long time." Clem said. "I heard you saying that Lee was your teacher."

"He was. He was my teacher a few time during college at the University of Georgia, and a great one at that. I graduated last year in 2011. I'm only 24 years old."

"Oh well that's cool. My dream college was Georgia, but seeing what's happened to this world.. I don't think college will even be a thing anymore." Clem said looking down.

"Hey don't think like that. This could only be a temporary thing. But whose to say? All we can do right now is wait, try to stay positive and hope this won't last forever." Naje tried to cheer her up. "And if the world does go back to normal, then I hope you can make it into UGA."

"Thanks Naje."His words made him feel better.

Lee walked up to Naje and Clem as they were still talking. "I'm sorry Clementine. I meant to give you this." Lee pulled out one of the energy bars Naje handed him earlier. She took it. "It's not much but it's better than nothing at all." He assured her.

"It's ok. Thank you." Clem happily said.

"Of course." Lee said smiling.

"So you guys getting along well?" Lee asked them both.

"Yeah. Me and Clementine were just going on about our love for the Georgia Bulldogs and the college itself." Naje answered for them.

Lee crossed him arms and looked at Clementine with a grin on his face. "You like Georgia too?" He asked her.

"I love them." She corrected him while chuckling.

"Well we all have something in common." Lee said grinning still.

"I'm even from Athens!" Naje said.

"Atlanta." Clementine telling where she's from.

"Macon." Lee mentioning where he's from.

"Well hey look! That's where we are now. Welcome home Lee." Naje said

Lee had a pretty sad look on his face. Naje and Clem noticed his face expression and they were a little concerned.

"You alright Lee?" Naje asked.

"I wanna tell you both something." They were waiting for Lee to tell them whatever he wanted to tell them. There was a little pause. Then he finally came out with it.

"This drugstore.. well.. my parents owned this place." Lee whispered to them. Naje and Clementine looked quite shocked.

"Really? I never knew that.." Naje said looking at Lee.

"Well it's true. I was speaking to Lilly and she said her dad, Larry, "pulled a couple of bodies out of the office." And said they were dead before you guys got here." Lee said.

Naje covered his mouth in shock. "I saw when he did it.. They were kinda old. So.. they were your parents?"

"Most likely. Yea." Lee said.

"Man.. Lee I'm really sorry." Naje sorrowed.

"No one's to blame." Lee assured him.

The radio Clementine had static in it. It was Glenn trying to speak into it.

"Hey there, uh.. it's Glenn. I'm.. kinda in a jam here. Um little girl, can you put your daddy on the phone? Or walkie talkie or whatever?" Clementine handed Lee the radio.

"It's Lee. What's up?" Lee spoke.

"Well I'm down at the motor inn and well.. I'm stuck." Glenn said.

"Stuck?" Lee asked curiously.

"Yea I saw a chance to get some supplies for the group. But the roaming ones got the jump on me. I'm hiding from them but they won't leave." Glenn exclaimed.

"What's going on?" Asked Kenny.

"Glenn's stuck." Lee answered. "Hey Glenn we're gonna send a group to come get you." Lee told Glenn through the radio.

"Awesome. I'll sit down until then." Glenn said.

"What do you think?" Kenny asked Lee.

"I figure Doug's not great around zombies. You've got your family here, and Naje's keeping an eye on Clementine. So the best ones to are me and Carley."

"If that's what you think." Kenny agreed.

"Someone's got to." Lee said.

"Yea. I'm in." Carley volunteered. "Let me know when you're ready." She finished.

"I think the sooner the better, so let's go now." Lee said.

"Alright. Let's go." Carley said standing next to the office that has the backdoor.

"Take care of you Naje." Lee kindly said to Naje.

"I will Lee. Don't worry. You guys stay safe and get back here quick." Naje responded.

Lee and Carley went out to the backdoor and went out to rescue Glenn.


	6. Chapter 6

The group members who were still in the drugstore was just waiting for Lee, Carley, and Glenn to come back. Naje got up and walked towards Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck.

"Hey you guys alright?" He asked the family.

"Yea we're doing fine. Thanks or your concern." Kenny answered nicely.

"We're hanging in there. Thanks hon." Katjaa said sincerely.

"So Naje, you said you knew Lee before all this happened?" Kenny asked.

"That's true. He was a college teacher of mine at the University of Georgia." Naje answered.

"Did he ever tell you about this drugstore?" Kenny asked.

"Yea. He told me that his parents owned this drugstore a little while ago. Not even I knew that." Naje answered honestly.

"Crazy right? I wonder if he knows where the keys are since he actually knows about this place." Kenny said.

"If he did, he probably would've found this by now." Naje assured. "Well get some rest guys. Sit tight."

"We will. Thanks man." Kenny said. Katjaa nodded her head at Naje with a smile on her face.

Naje walked off and walked towards Dough who was still on lookout. "Hey man, anything happened yet?" Naje asked him.

"Nope. Everything's cool." Doug answered.

"Good. You're doing a good job." Naje said. "Well I'll leave you be. Just checkin on ya."

"Thanks Naje." Doug said nicely.

Naje then went back to Clementine and sat next to her. "Hey Clem. How're you feelin'?"He asked while looking at her.

"Yea. I'm just waiting for Lee and the others to come back here. Do you think they're ok?" She looked up at Naje with sad eyes.

"Hey hey, they're doing just fine. I promise. I don't know Carley and Glenn too well but they seem like they can hold their own. And I know Lee's a tough guy. So don't worry." He assured her. His words made Clementine feel better. She put a smile on her face which made him smile.

A few minutes later, Lee, Carley, and Glenn made their way back. They were all okay. They were greeted by the others.

Naje and Kenny walked up to them.

"You guys alright?" Kenny asked them.

"Yea. We had a few close calls but.. yea. We're fine." Lee answered. Kenny nodded his head and went back to Kat and Duck. Naje went back to Clementine. Lee soon followed after.

"How have things been since we were gone?" Lee asked/

"Quiet. Peaceful." Naje answered.

"Well that's good then. Thanks for looking out for Clementine, Naje." Lee thanked.

"Not a problem at all." Naje said smiling.

"Well I've got a job to do. I'll speak to you guys later." Lee said as he got up and walked off. He then walked up to Kenny and his family. He reached into his pocket and gave them one of the energy bars from earlier. "It's not much but here you go. For the boy." Lee said handing the energy bar to them. Kenny grabbed it and gave it to Duck.

"Aw thanks Lee. He appreciates it." Kenny said.

"Thank you Lee." Said Katjaa.

"But how you guys been?" Lee asked.

"We're just fine. Considering." Kenny said.

"We've just been through a lot." Katjaa said a little saddened.

"We're lucky as hell no one got nabbed on the way in here." Kenny said intensely.

"No kiddin'." Lee said grinning.

"Lee.. can I have a word with you?" Kenny asked. "Sure. What's up?" Lee responded. The two men took a few steps away from Katjaa and Duck.

"Back at Hershel's farm.." Kenny didn't finish. Lee looked at him with concern. "Yea..?" Lee said.

"I panicked.. I'm not proud of it." Kenny said sorrowfully.

"It happens." Lee assured him.

"I know.. I just can't get him outta my head. We could've saved him! Together.." Exclaimed Kenny.

"Well Kenny, you think you could've done something when you look back at it. But when it's happening right before you, when things are really outta control, you don't have any choice." Lee consoled him.

"I guess." Kenny said.

"Try to let it go." Lee told him. Kenny nodded his head in agreement. He then went back to Katjaa and Duck.

Lee then looked at the office door he went through earlier. The sign on it said "Employees Only." It had another sign someone stuck on there that said "Alive Inside."

Clem noticed him at the door and wanted to go inside with him. "I'll be back." She whispered to Naje. He nodded.

Lee opened the door and he and Clementine went inside. One of the first things he noticed was a sleeping bag on the floor that was covered in blood. He also noticed a picture that was lying next to the sleeping bag. It was in a picture frame, but the glass part was broken. He went down to pick it up and stood back up again. He stared at it with a smile. It was a picture of him, his mother, his father, and his brother. In that order from left to right. He smile then turned upside down. Lee ripped his part of the picture out. Carley then showed up behind his unannounced.

"Find anything?" She asked him from behind. Lee turned around and dropped his part of the picture.

"Just a photo of the family who owned this place. Might help us track those keys to the pharmacy." Lee answered honestly. Lee then put the part of the picture with his parents and brother in his pocket.

"I know he you are." Carley randomly said. Lee looked quite surprised.

"You're Lee Everett. You're a professor at the University of Georgia in Athens who killed a state senator for sleeping with your wife. This is your parent's store. Folks around town knows the owner's son got himself a life sentence, but I'm a reporter for WABE in Atlanta. I paid attention to that trial. Maybe you're a murdered. But I don't really care. Frankly, that's a skill that might come in handy." Carley went on. Lee just gave a little "hmph" and stayed quiet. He crossed his arms.

"Did you tell anyone you were tied to this place? Or at least who you were?" Carley asked him.

"I told a few people that I was. But the only person who knows about that trial is Naje. And I didn't even tell him. He already knew." Lee said.

Carley gave Lee a look. "You seem like a nice guy. And the last thing we need here is drama. You've got this little girl to take of and- look, don't make me wrong on this."

"I don't plan to." Lee assured. her.

"Good because if this goes any longer and you're a detriment to the group, then we're gonna have problems." Carley said.

"I hear you." Lee told her.

"I'll just keep it to myself. And I'll tell Naje the same thing if he hasn't told anyone yet." Carley promised.

"Thanks." Lee said smiling.

"Don't worry about it." Carley said looking at him with a smile. She walked out of the office.

Lee walked up to Clementine who was standing next to the office door.

"Everyone out there seem okay to you?" Lee asked her.

"Yea!.. well maybe not the sick guy." Clem said

"Yeah. We'll keep a close eye on him." Lee assured her.

"I like Naje the most so far,." Clem said. She started blushing a little.

"Clem.. do you have a crush on him?" Lee joked with her with a smirk on his face. Clementine starting caressing her arm, but was silent.

"Clem! He's too old for you. He's a college graduate. You're still in elementary." He said chuckling.

"I know, I know." Clem said in response. "There was that thing in the bathroom. It tried to get me.."

"I know." Lee said.

"But you stopped it!" Said Clem.

"Yea I did." Lee confidently and proudly said.

"Can you do that more?" Clem asked.

"Well I'm not gonna go looking for them.." Lee said

"I mean get the dangerous ones." Clem said.

"I'm gonna try." Lee promisingly said.

Lee then looked around the room for a while, as Clementine still stayed next to the door. Lee saw that the door to the pharmacy was blocked by a table. There was also a wooden pallet leaning on that table. Lee then moved the pallet, then a cane fell down to the floor. Clem looks over at it. Lee moved the pallet away and went down to pick the cane up and stood back up straight. As he was holding and looking at it, Clem came over to have a look too.

"What's that?" Clem asked while looking at the cane.

"It's my dad's cane. He'd keep it around here from time to time." Lee answered.

"Was he sick?" Clem asked.

"Nah, he was fine. I actually saw him whoop shoplifters with it. This cane's protected this store better than any guard dog ever could. Plus he knew how to make it look cool. Like you and your hat." Lee said smiling.

"My dad gave it to me." Clem told Lee as she looked up smiling at him.

"See, dads are smart like that." Lee said giving a smile back. Clem then stood back at the door. Lee was looking at the table that was blocking the pharmacy door, attempting to move it.

"Better get this door clear huh?" Lee asked to himself and Clem.

"Can I help?" Clem volunteered with an open smile. Lee smiled back at her.

"Sure." Lee answered.

"Alright here we go." Went Lee. They both first pulled the table from the door. Clem was making groaning noise because the table was a bit heavy to her. But she still continued pulling and so did Lee. They were able to pull the table away from the door enough. They took a couple seconds.

"How are you doing?" Lee asked her. He was leaning on the table with his arms held on on it.

"Yea it's not that heavy." Said Clem. "How about with everything else?" He second questioned her.

"It's not good." Clem said worriedly.

"No.. it's not." Remarked Lee.

"But I think it's gonna be okay." Clem said happily. Lee smiled at her. The two then pulled the table back for good measure.

"Do you have kids?" Clem randomly asked.

"No." Lee answered.

"Are you married?" Clem asked.

"I.. I'm not sure how to answer that." Lee said looking down.

"Why not?" Clem curiously asked.

"Do you play any sports?" Lee asked her, trying to change the subject.

"I played soccer, but I didn't like it much." Clem said.

"I'm not so crazy about it either." Lee agreed with her.

"I like football though. Mostly when the Georgia Bulldogs football team play. So is my mom and dad. We go to their games every year. Even the games when they're the away team." Clem added.

"Me too. I'm a fan of them too. We talked about this, remember?" Lee reminded her. Clem nodded her head.

"You didn't answer my question." Clem said trying to go back to the previous subject. Lee didn't answer though. He was pushing the table up against the wall. Clem noticed his silence.

"Why don't you wanna talk about your wife? Or.. do you even have one?" She tried to ask nicely.

"Because.. she's dead." Lee finally answered. His response made Clementine sad. Also made her feel bad.

"Oh.. I-I'm sorry." Clem said in a sad voice.

"You didn't know." Lee said, trying to make Clementine feel better.

"I'm just sorry for being mean." Clem sorrowed. She was still looking quite sad.

"Look my family's gone and I wish things could've been different." Lee told her.

"Yea." Clem responded.

"I got into some trouble. And we didn't talk much after that. But let's just keep that between me and you for now." Lee said.

"My parents don't talk to me when I get in trouble. Sometimes I fight with my mom." Clem told him. Lee just chuckled.

"I can relate, Clem." He said in a understandingly way.

They continued to push the table up against the wall, until Clem got her finger cut. Her index finger in specific.

"Ow!" Clem cried out as she held her hand with the cut finger, holding only that finger up. There was a little blood running down it.

"You ok?" Lee said looking at Clem worried.

"I hurt my finger." Clem calmly said.

Lee lifted her up and sat her on the table. "I'll find you a bandage." He looked around until her found a first-aid kit. He opened it up and grabbed band-aid. He walked over back to Clem, squatted down, and softly held her hand out.

"Let's look at that cut, shall we?" He said. Clem let him hold her hand. Lee massaged her cut finger.

"Ouch.." Lee said.

"It hurt." Clem told him.

"Let's get this covered up." Lee said as he opened up the band-aid.

"Yes please." Clem agreed. Lee looked at her and then her finger. He started putting the band-aid over her finger. Clem looked at him and then looked at her finger. Lee had fully covered her finger up. Clem looked at him with a smile. Lee stood up and searched one of the drawers to the table. In the drawer, he found a TV remote. In the room was a TV that was on top of the shelf. Lee used the remote to turn it off but there were no pictures. Lee nodded his head, as if he figured that would happen. He put the remote in his pocket.

"Lee? What if my parents come home and I'm not there?" Clem asked him.

"They'll uhh.. track us down. Don't worry." Lee answered.

"Ok. I got my walkie talkie in case they try that way." She informed.

"Stay close to me until then. Ok?" Lee said. Clem nodded her head. Lee was about to leave the office.

"Wanna go back into the drugstore with me?" Lee asked, looking back at Clem.

"Yea." She answered. Before he could open the door, Clem asked Lee a question."

"Lee?" She called him.

"Yea?" He answered.

"You're not bad are you?" She asked.

"I, uhh.. why are you asking me that?" Lee said confusingly.

"That lady said you killed someone. Was he one of the things that tried to eat you?" She asked him.

"No, he wasn't." Lee answered honestly.

"Oh.. was he bad?" She second questioned him.

"He was." Lee said looking a bit intense, nodding his head yes.

Lee and Clem then went back into the store with everyone else.


	7. Chapter 7

The group was still in the drugstore. They had been in there a couple of hours already and they're just waiting for an opening. Lee walked towards Doug, who was the lookout.

"Anything outside?" Lee asked.

"Nothing. Wanna step outside and look around?" Doug asked.

Lee chuckled. "I'm not suicidal yet." Lee joked.

"No the gate outside is closed and locked. We can stand out there and be safe." Doug informed him.

"Oh.. then yea. Let's have a look." Lee agreed.

"Cool. And let's keep it down out there. Don't wanna make any unnecessary noises." Said Doug.

Lee and Doug went outside. The gate kept them safe i case any walkers tried to come and get at them. The walkers were just wandering randomly, not paying any attention to Lee and Doug. Lee and Doug crouched down, just looking around at there surroundings. Doug spotted a few walkers eating on a corpse and it made him disgusted.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Doug said covering his mouth as if he's gonna puke.

"They just-.." Lee began but Doug finished the sentence for him. "Eat. As far as I know, that's all they care about." Doug finished.

"And if one gets you.." Doug finished the sentence for Lee again. "They eat you. And whatever's left of you turns into one of them." Doug finished.

"How the fuck.." Lee said in disbelief.

"I think it's gonna be a few days before this all get sorted out." Doug said.

"Yea. I think so too." Lee said, agreeing with Doug.

Lee then started conversation with Doug as they looked around. For example: asking him how'd he end up at the drugstore, what his hobby was, and where he's from. After a little while, Lee pointed out a walker that happened to be trapped under a telephone pole that had fell. He looked close at it. The walker had clothes and employee would wear. He looked even closer at the name tag it was wearing. The tag read, "B. Everett." It was Lee's younger brother.

"Oh shit.." Lee said, saddened. He looked away because he couldn't bear to look at his brother as a walker. A lot of things were running through Lee's mind. Doug looked over at him with concern.

"What's wrong? Do you know that guy?" Doug asked.

"Kinda. He looks familiar. But look at his clothes. He could've been an employee here and died with keys in his pocket."

"Well we'd have to make sure before we could go out there. We need proof." Doug said.

Lee then remembered the picture he found in the office and showed it to Doug.

"That guy was an employee here. The keys being on him is as good of a bet we could make." Lee said.

"Alright then! If only we had a way to get out there." Doug said.

Lee went back inside to get an ax he found when he and Carley went out to the motor inn to save Glenn. Lee chopped the combination locker off of the gate to get it open.

"Now if only we had a way to distract those walkers. We can't go out there when they're all wandering around." Said Doug.

Lee pulled out the TV remote he put in his pocket earlier. He saw a building with a bunch of TVs stacked on top of each other. He was trying to turn on all those TVs somehow with that one remote but to no avail.

"Think you could do anything with this?" Lee asked Doug, handing him the remote. Doug grabbed it.

"Know what? I actually could. This remote might be universal. I could program it to turn those TVs on. Just hope the power is still on." Doug said.

"You can just do that?" Lee asked, a bit confused.

"I memorized all the codes when I was in AV. Let's see if this works." Doug put in a random code and turned the TVs next building on. The TVs just had static on them.

"Well fucking done Doug! All that dorky nonsense just may have saved a life." Lee excitedly said.

"Who's to say it already hasn't?" Doug remarked.

A few walkers took notice of the static. So they stopped and looked at them for like 2 seconds, then went back to walking around again. Lee spotted brick that was just randomly lying on the ground in front of the gate. He picked it up and threw across to the glass windows. The static in the TV had a loud sound to it, but it couldn't be heard past the glass. All the walkers, except the trapped one, all walked towards the store, taking interest in the sounds the TVs were making. Their backs were completely turned around.

"Now's your chance Lee. Go! I'll keep an eye out for you." Doug said. Lee slowly went out the gate and walked in front of his trapped walker brother. He just stood in front of him and the walker looked up at him. He was trying to grab Lee but couldn't get a hand on him. He was trapped pretty good. Lee squatted down.

"Hey bud. I don't know what happened to mom and dad. But I know.. if you were there, you would've died for them, so uh.. Yeah. I'm gonna assume that's what happened." Lee said, talking to him dead brother.

"Did you find them yet?! Shouted Doug.

"Gimme a second!" Lee shouted as well, looking back at him. Luckily the other walkers didn't hear neither one of them. Lee then turned around to look at his brother with a sad face.

"I'm sorry man. I'm sorry I wasn't there. But knowing you were.. to take care of them, through all of it. Well.. that helped. Thanks." Lee said.

Lee then stood up, firmly grasping the ax in his hand. He held it above his head as he looked down at his brother. He then took the ax and chopped his brother with it in the neck. The walkers stopped moving. Assumingly dead. It then let out a roar which scared Lee a bit that made him jump back a little.

"Fuck!" Lee frightenly said. He took the ax and chopped the walker a few more times in the neck, but it was still moving. It took a chop to the head to finally kill it. Lee squatted back down and searched for the keys. He found them in the walker's pocket. He stood up and took one final look at his brother. Afterwards, he looked back at Doug and waved the keys around in his hand.

"Holy crap! Run" Doug demanded Lee. The walkers had began to walk towards Lee. Probably heard the ruckus behind them. Lee sprinted for the gate and he and Doug made it back inside the drugstore.

"Phew that was close." Doug said.

"But we got what we needed.. That's all that matters." Lee said. Lee told everyone that he found the keys to the pharmacy. He then told Lilly.

"We got the keys to the pharmacy." Lee told her.

"Thank you! God you're amazing. Let's get in there." Lilly said, happily.

Lee and Lilly went into the office and Lee unlocked the door with the keys and opened it up. When he stepped in, about a foot in, an alarm went off around the drugstore.

"Oh shit!" Lee said, worriedly.

"Oh no.. We gotta hurry." Lee and Lilly ran inside grabbing as much medicine as they needed.

Walkers outside were all pushing up against trying to get it. Everyone inside were all getting ready to move out.

"I'm gonna get the truck running!" Kenny shouted.

"Do it quick! I need to get my dad outta here." Said Lilly. Larry got up and he and Lilly began to leave out.

"I don't plan on dilly-dallying! Doug, Carley, and Glenn, I need you guys to barricade the living hell outta that door! Glenn, when I start honking, I need you to start getting people outta here! Naje, you come with me to help get the truck prepared to go! Lee, we're gonna need that ax in case we run into them out there!" Kenny ordered. Lee tossed him the ax.

"That door's not gonna hold.." Doug said.

"Shit! You three get on it! Get ready to move out people!" Kenny stilling ordering.

Everyone started to do their jobs. Clementine sat in the chair Duck was sitting in.

"Stay away from the windows." Lee told Clem. Glenn, Doug, and Carley were barricading the door.

"Glenn we need your help!" Katjaa shouted. Glenn moved away from the door and went out to help. Lee took his spot in barricading the door.

"Lee, if we don't make it out, I want you to know that.. I think you're a good guy." Doug said to Lee.

"Gee, thanks Doug!" Lee said.

"Doug, of we don't make it through this, you should know-" Carley said but was interrupted by the door, where walkers were trying to put through. We pushed the door so that it closed.

"What?" Doug said.

"What?" Carley copied.

"You said I should know-" Doug was cut off by the barricade shelf getting pushed back by the walkers.

"Shit!" Carley yelled. "She pulled out her gun and shot at them.

"Oh shit!" Shouted Lee.

"That window is screwed." Doug pointed out.

"Go!" Lee ordered. Doug went to help blocked the window.

"Clementine!" He called for her. "I need to to find something to hold the door with! Something real strong, okay?"

"Ok!" Clem said, looking around for something that may get the job done. The walkers were pushing through the door only Lee was keeping closed. Lee pushed it one good time to shut it back.

"Clementine! Did you find anything?" Hollered Lee.

"Nothing!.. oh wait!" Clem said. She came back with the cane that belonged to Lee's dad. She handed it to him and he took it and stuck it in the door handles. Lee moved off of the door.

Doug and Carley then started screaming for help. Doug was grabbed by the walkers at the window and Carley was grabbed by her ankle by a grounded walker. She was out of bullets and couldn't reach her bag with the ammo in it. It was up to Lee to make a critical choice. After a few seconds of thinking, his body just moved. He helped Carley. He tossed her the ammo from her bag. She was able to put them in and shoot the incoming walkers. Lee then went to save Doug but it was too late. He was hanging onto the walls for dear life. Lee was pulling at his legs, but the walkers were able to pull him all the way out. They began eating away on him. Lee and Clem were in disbelief. Carley covered her mouth with her hand then continued shooting at the walkers.

Kenny then came back to get everyone out. "Let's go!" He shouted to everyone that was still in the store.

"They got Doug.." Carley said as she was leaving. Clementine began to run out but she was tripped by a walker that had grabbed her by the ankle. Lee quickly reacted and stomped the walker on the head a few times. The walker eventually let go. Clem crawled away and got up and finally read out. Lee ran right behind her, but Lee was stopped in his tracks by Larry.

"You're not coming with us you son of a bitch!" Larry punched Lee in the face that knocked him straight to the ground. "No!" Screamed Clem. Lee had a blurry vision. The walker that he stomped on was close to Lee, but Lee was saved by Kenny and the ax.

"I'm not lettin' someone else get eaten today." He held him hand out for Lee, which he grabbed. Kenny then helped him up. "Especially a good friend." Kenny finished. Lee got up and took one final look at the drugstore, which was now full of walkers. He shut the door and everyone made it out. They all then headed out to the motor inn. Some got in Kenny's truck and some got in Glenn's pizza delivery car.

After a few minutes, everyone was at the motor in, settling in. Piling the dead walkers that Lee, Carley, and Glenn killed, on top of each other. Lee went to Glenn. Glenn was listening in to the radio station about the news in Atlanta. Before Lee could get a word out, Glenn held his hand up. Saying wait a minute.

"I think I need to go." Glenn said. Lilly overheard him and came to get a better listen.

"To Atlanta?" Lee asked him.

"Yea. I've got friends there. And I just can't sit here knowing that they could be in danger." Glenn remarked.

"Sounds like no one knows what's happening there. When we left a few days ago, it could've gone either way." Lee said.

"I've gotta take my chances." Said Glenn. Lee saw Lilly and held his hand up, telling her not to say anything. She then walked away.

"Find your friends. And be safe." Lee told Glenn.

"Thanks Lee. I don't mean to abandon you guys. This place seems like it could be a good place to stay." Glenn said.

"We'll see what we can make out of it." Lee said.

"You guys be safe." Glenn said. That was his final words.

"We'll try," Lee assured him. Glenn looked at Lee and Lee looked back, Glenn then into his car. He got in and drove off. He was never seen again.

Lee watched him drive off until he was completely out of sight. Lee then approached Kenny.

"Hey Kenny." Lee said.

"Close call back there." Kenny reminded him.

"Thanks for pickin' me up." Lee thanks him, holding his hand out. Kenny shook his hand.

"No problem. Gotta watch out for one another." Kenny assured him.

"Yea we do." Lee agreed.

"Hey Lee?"

"Yea?"

"About Clementine. Earlier I said they might be some things out there to screw up a precious little girl like her." Kenny reminded him.

"You did." Lee remembered.

"Well I still think that's true. But after what I saw today, I think between you taking care of her, and also Naje taking care of her, and her taking care of herself, I think you guys are gonna be just fine." Kenny said.

"Thanks Kenny." Lee said smiling. Kenny smiled back.

"You got it." Kenny said, tending back to his family and his truck.

Lee walked off to check on everyone else. The next person he went to is Carley. She was checking on the supplies that they picked up from the drugstore.

"How are you doing, Carley?" Lee asked her.

"I'm ok. You know, considering." She answered.

"I do." Said Lee.

"I just can't stop thinking about Doug. We couldn't have saved him, could we?" She asked Lee.

"I don't know. It happened pretty fast." Lee said.

"Well I know that it's crazy and we just met but.. I think that I liked him." Carley said.

"I'm sure he liked you too Carley." Lee said.

"He better have." Carley joked. "Anyway, I'd rather be alone right now." She added. Lee nodded his head and began to walk off. He was stopped by Carley.

"Hey Lee..." She said. Lee turned back around.

"Yea?" He answered.

"How did you choose?.. We both needed you.. and you picked me?" Carley asked.

"I was trying o help you both." Lee answered her.

"But you chose me first." She reminded him.

"Yea I did." Lee said.

"I just wish we both could've made it, you know?" Carley said.

"Me too Carley." Agreed Lee. Carley went back to check on the supplies. The next person Lee would go check on is Clementine. She was sitting with Naje and Duck. Duck seemed to be rambling about something. But it seemed like neither Naje nor Clem was paying attention to him. Lee then looked over and saw Larry, who was just staring at him. Then he walked over to the three.

"Hey Duck, would you mind cooling it for a bit?" Lee asked Duck.

"Ok sorry." Duck said. Lee then looked at Clem and squatted down in front of her. She was staring down at the ground.

"I'm sorry there's not a bunch of kids here." Lee sorrowed.

"No it's not that.. It's.. I got grabbed again." Clem assured him.

"I was there though." Lee reminded her.

"I fell.. and my walkie talkie broke. Glenn had the other one.

"Aww, I'm sorry." Lee said to her.

"It'll be ok Clem." Naje also said to her.

"Thanks guys. I know I need to be tough.. I'm just sad. I know it doesn't make any sense, but it's how I use to talk to my mom and dad. And now they're gone.. it's gone." Clem said with a sad voice.

"Maybe we can find you another one." Lee told her.

"I'll just hold onto this one.. I guess." Clem said. Naje put his arm around Clem, trying to comfort her. Lee was called over by Larry.

"Lee, come here for a second." Larry called for him.

"Let me go deal with this." Lee told them. As he went, Duck starting rambling again. Lee walked up to Larry.

"What is it?" Lee said to Larry.

"You like my daughter?" Asked Larry.

"Not really." Lee answered.

"Good, stay away from her, or everyone will know that Lee Everett is a killer. And I'm not talking about those things out there." Larry demanded. Lee and Larry got into each other's face a little. "That's right. I know who you are. And I don't give a shit what happens to you but if something happens to my daughter or Clementine, well.. you just watch you ass." Larry warned him. Larry then walked off.

"Lee? You got a second?" Called Lilly. Lee then looked back at Larry who was watching them, then looked away.

"Yea." Lee said.

"My dad would be dead if it wasn't for you." She said to him.

"That guy Doug is dead because of me.." Lee said.

"You can't be like that. You're just one man." She assured him.

"I don't know.." Lee said, not sure.

"We're lucky to have you." She told him. That made Lee smile. Lee and Lilly looked up, listening for a strange noise they heard. Kenny walked up towards them.

"I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing." He told them.

"Me too." Lilly agreed.

"This motor inn's pretty damn defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch and we could stay here until the military rolls through." Kenny said.

"I actually agree with that plan." Lilly agreed with the plan.

"So do I." Lee also agreed.

"We've got beds, medicine, water, and we got light. There are worse places to call home." Kenny remarked.

"Yeah. You're right, You know guys, I think it's going to be okay." Lilly said.

The city lights had began to turn off and the area got dark.


	8. Chapter 8

It's been 3 months since the group of survivors have been staying at the motor inn. Since then, they haven't had much problems there. But most importantly, everyone who made it out the drugstore were still alive. They even added a new member to the group. A guy named Mark. He had already known Lilly because the two were in the military together. Everyone is just trying to make it through each day.

Kenny, Lee, and Mark were out in the woods scavenging for something to eat. While everyone at the motor inn were doing their own thing. Larry was reinforcing the wall they had boarded up. He was hammering the nails in with a rock. Lilly was sitting in a chair on top of an RV with a rifle in her lap. She was the lookout. Carley was sleeping out on a couch. Duck was drawing and coloring on a wide sheet of construction paper, with Katjaa watching him. Naje and Clem took turns kicking a soccer ball into steel barrels.

"You miss playing soccer, Clementine?" Naje asked her.

"For some weird reason.. I'm actually starting to. At least then when I was playing, the world was still.. normal." Clem answered.

The two continued kicking the soccer ball into the barrels.

Meanwhile in the woods, Lee quietly approached a walker from behind. The walker was eating something. Couldn't tell what it was that it was eating. Lee held the ax over his head and chopped the walker over the head with it. Lee kicked the walker off as its head had got stuck on it. Mark followed up behind Lee. They got a look at what the walker was eating.

"What'd it get this time?" Mark asked.

"Looks like a rabbit.." Lee said.

"Well.. there's another meal lost." Mark said, frustrated.

The two then walked around looking for something else.

"I still can't believe we went through all the commissary food in 3 months! Seemed like so much at the time." Said Mark.

"Maybe you shouldn've have opened the door." Lee joked. Mark chuckled.

"Yeah, except I'd probably BE food by now. Trust me, I have no regrets." Mark said.

"A rabbit's hardly a meal, Mark. But I'd take it. We're all hungry." Lee said.

"Hmph. No kidding." Mark agreed. "When I accidentally grabbed for Carley's rations the other night, I thought she was gonna take off my hand!" Mark stated.

"We're all on edge. Just give her some slack." Lee said to him.

"Yeah you're right. I really wish I knew how much food we had left." Mark said.

"Not enough. According to Lilly we're running low. Some people will have to go without eating today just to keep it balanced out." Lee informed.

"Damn.." Mark said. "You think Kenny's having any more luck than we are out here?" Mark asked Lee.

"I sure hope so." Lee said, hopefully.

"Ya know Kenny's been thinking about leaving in that RV. That is if he can get it working." Mark said.

"Kenny won't abandon us. He's a good man." Lee assured him.

"I guess we'll see. I don't blame him though. Did you hear Larry going off on him last night? What's the old guy's deal anyway? Seems like he's got a problem with you in particular." Mark stated.

"He think I'm a danger to the group, and a danger to Clementine." Lee said.

"I think he's the one putting us all in danger. I know Lilly thinks that he's getting weaker, but the guy's all muscle. A walking piledriver. I know I wouldn't wanna be stuck in a room with him.. And didn't he punch you in the face one time?" Went on Mark.

"He knocked me flat." Lee said then sighed.

Mark spotted a bird in the tree. It was black. It was either a crow or a raven. Mark pointed his rifle towards it. He was stopped by Lee.

"Don't risk the noise. Plus one bird's not enough." Lee calmly said. Mark put the gun down.

"Yea you're right.. I'm just really freakin' hungry." Said Mark.

Lee and Mark then heard a loud scream that came out of nowhere. That made the bird in the tree fly away.

"Holy shit do you think that's Kenny?!" Mark said worriedly.

"I don't think so!" Lee said unsurely. The two ran to find where the scream was coming from. When they finally found out, it wasn't Kenny. It was a man with two teenagers with him. The man was on the ground. His leg was stuck in a bear trap.

"What happened?!" Shouted Lee.

The two boys saw Lee and Mark and thought they they were dangerous. So they looked at them in fear.

"Oh shit! Don't hurt us!" One of the boys pleaded.

"Can you please help us? Our teacher is stuck! Maybe they could help us Travis!" The other boy said.

"No Ben! These may be the guys that raided our camp, and we barely got away from them!" Said Travis. Kenny came over to see where the screaming was coming from for himself. "Lee! You guys alright?" Asked Kenny as he came over. Kenny then noticed the man stuck in the bear trap and figured that he was the one screaming.

"Who raided your camp?" Asked Lee.

"I don't know! Guys with guns!" Answered Ben.

"Ben shut up. My dad was in special forces. I know what I'm doing!" Travis exclaimed. Ben ignored and still asked the men for help.

"Just help our teacher get out and then you could leave us or whatever! I don't care! Just please help us." Ben continued pleading.

"Lee this is fucked up! We've gotta help'em!" Mark said.

"Let's try." Lee agreed.

"Thank you.. thank you so much!" The downed man said.

"Alright. Just make it quick!" Kenny said.

"Oh no.." Travis said in fear.

The guys then noticed a few walkers approaching them. Assuming they also followed the scream.

"Shit! Walkers! It's now or never Lee!" Kenny and Mark went to shoot off the walkers. Or at least slow them down. Lee then tried cutting the chain connected to the trap. He tried opening up the trap. But nothing worked. After Lee was trying to find ways to get the man unstuck, he then only had one more option. To cut his leg off.

"I'm gonna have to cut you out.." Lee said sorrowfully.

"No no no! Please, try the trap again." Cried the man.

"I can't. I have to do this fast.." Lee said.

Lee then held up his ax and got one chop on the man's leg. The man cried and screamed for dear life. The leg wasn't off yet. It took 3 more chops to finally cut the man's leg all the way off. The man saw his leg and fainted. Either in blood loss or in shock. Maybe both. Mark, Ben, and Travis came to check on him. Travis stepped aside to go puke because of the smell and the look.

"What happened to him?" Mark asked.

"He passed out." Lee assumed.

"Well if he's alive, grab him and let's go!" Kenny ordered.

"Right!" Lee said as he grabbed the man and put him on his shoulders. "Let's go!" Kenny and Mark began running away.

Lee spotted the walkers getting closer. They were getting close to Travis specifically.

"Behind you!" Shouted Lee.

Travis turned around and saw the walkers trying to get to him. He backed up screaming. And then he fell. He was still backing up but he backed up into a stone. Then it was too late. The walkers got to him. They started eating away at him and ripping his insides out and eating those too.

"Travis!" Cried out Ben.

"C'mon kid, we gotta go!" Lee exclaimed as he pulled Ben from going to Travis. Everyone then started running and heading back to the motor inn.


	9. Chapter 9

The group back at the motor inn were still doing what they were doing before. Naje and Clem kicking the soccer ball into the barrels. Doug drawing stuff and Katjaa watching him. Carley sleeping out on the couch, or at least just resting. Larry reinforcing the boarded wall. Lilly on watch.

Lilly was just watching over everyone until she looked at her dad. Her dad looked at her and she looked back at him. They smiled at each other. Then Larry went back to work.

A sound came from the woods and Lilly was alert. She stood up and pointed her rifle. She was just waiting to see what it was or who it was. Naje and Clem were still kicking the soccer ball into the barrels, which of course caused noises. Lilly whistled. Which everyone knew to get down and take cover in case something happened.

"Get the gates open! We've got wounded!" Shouted Lee as he and the rest followed up behind him. Lilly lowered he rifle.

"Shit.. What the hell are they doing?!" Lilly exclaimed.

Kenny and Mark pushed over the dumpsters which the group were using as gates. Everyone started talking at once. Asking question after question. Question what happened, what were they doing, and if anyone else was okay. Then Lilly finally made herself heard.

"Lee! What the hell? You just can't be bringing new people here! What are you thinking?!" Hollered Lilly.

"Hey you wanna calm down for a fucking minute?!" Shouted Kenny.

"Hey! Watch your mouth!" Larry told him.

"No I don't! I wanna know why you thought bringing more mouths to feed was a good idea!" Said Lilly.

"He would've died if we left him!" Lee said.

"So what?" Larry said.

"We can't be responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We have to focus on our group! Right here, right now." Lee said.

"Now hold on we haven't even met these people. Maybe they can be helpful." Said Carley trying to reassure.

"I agree." Naje said.

"Come on Lilly. These are people! People trying to survive just like us. We've gotta stick together to survive!" Mark said.

"The only reason you're here is because you had food." Lilly said to Mark. "But that food's almost gone. We've got maybe a week's left." Lilly finished/

"And I bet you guys aren't carrying groceries, are you?" Lilly smartly asked the saved people.

"Um.. no.." Said a nervous Ben.

"Fine you guys fight it out. Welcome to the family kid." Mark said then walked off.

Clementine looked up at Ben and slightly tugged him by the wrist. "Come over here and see what I drew.." Said Clementine.

"What? No, I-" Ben said.

"Just come on, okay?" Clem said pulling him and they both walked off. Naje also left with them.

"You know, you like to think you're the leader of this group, but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship." Kenny went off to Lilly.

"Oh come on! You're both acting ridiculous. Everything always ends up in a power struggle between you two. I'm not gonna be a part of that." Carley said to them then walked off.

"Hey! I didn't ask the be the leader. Everyone seemed fine with me being in charge of the food, but suddenly now that it's running out, I'm a goddamn Nazi!" Lilly went off back to Kenny.

"Kenny's right! Yea you're in charge of the food and schedule, but you're not in charge of people's live.." Lee said.

"Thank you Lee!" Said Kenny.

"Oh really?" Lilly said, crossing her arms.

"Lee made a choice. You weren't there. End of story." Kenny stated then walked away.

"Look, I don't care what you do with these people. Kick them out or whatever! But they at least deserve a fighting chance against the walkers!" State Lee. "And for the record, Kenny wanted to leave those people behind!" Lee added.

"If Kenny would pull his head out of his ass for 5 minutes, he'd realize that I make these choice to protect everyone, including his family!" Lilly exclaimed.

"I don't see none of you stepping up to make the hard decisions! My girl's got more balls than all of you combined!" Larry shouted.

"Dad.. please. Why don't you go help Mark with the wall?" Lilly said to him. He then did what she said and went to help Mark out.

"You know what, if you think that I'm doing shitty job deciding who should eat and who shouldn't, then you do it." Lilly said to Lee. She went to the bag of food and handed Lee 5 food items. A half an apple, a piece of jerky, 2 cheese and cracker mini lunchables, and mini Oreos.

"Lilly.." Lee said in an unsure way that he wanted to do this.

"No, I'm serious! Pick up that food and start handing it out! You see how it's like not having enough food for everyone." Lilly said and walked off to go back on watch on top of the RV. Everyone then had their eyes on Lee. It didn't make him feel comfortable. Everyone then looked away. Lee sighed. He went to go check on Clementine who was with Naje, Duck, Carley, and Ben. But she had got up to go to him instead.

"Hey Lee." She said smiling, holding her wrist.

"Hi Clementine. Where's your hat?" Lee said to her.

"I don't know.. can you help me find it?" She asked him.

"I promise, if I find it, I'll let you know." He said.

"Thanks." Clem said.

"Alright Clem, I gotta take care of some stuff. You can go back and play with Duck and Naje." Lee stated.

"Ok." Clem said and went back to Duck and Naje. Lee then thought about something and went back to her.

"Here Clem. You need to eat something." Lee said, handing her the half apple.

"I love apples! Thank you! Are there more?" Clem happily said.

"No.. that was the last one." Lee answered.

"Oh.. umm." Clem said feeling unsure if she wanted it now.

"Enjoy it. You deserve it." Lee told her. Clem smiled and nodded and went back to drawing.

Lee then went to Duck. "Here Duck. Eat something." Duck smiled and waited to see what Lee was gonna give him. Lee gave him one of the cheese and crackers. Duck happily took it.

"Oh man, I'm so hungry! Thanks Lee." Duck said with a smile. Lee smiled back. The next person Lee went to was Carley

"Here Carley." Lee handed her the other cheese and crackers.

"Me? What about you Lee? You look like crap. When's the last time you've eaten?" Carley asked, concerned.

"I'm okay." Lee said.

"I want you to keep it. In case you or Clementine starts feeling week." Carley said. "I know I said it didn't matter that you saved me instead of Dough but..-"

"You don't owe me anything Carley." Lee assured her. She nodded and went back to watching what Clem and Duck were drawing.

The next person that was on Lee's mind was Naje, his former college student. Lee went to him and Naje looked up at him. Lee handed Naje the mini Oreos. Naje looked at them and smirked.

"You remember huh?" Naje said to Lee.

"That these are your second favorite cookies behind Chips Ahoy? Yea, I did." Lee said grinning. "You use to come in my class time after time and sneakily try to eat them. If it's not those then it's the Chips Ahoy." Lee finished.

Naje chuckled. "Sure did." Naje finally took the Oreos. "Thanks Lee."

"No problem. It's your reward for looking out for Clementine with me. And for being a good student." Lee said in a joking tone. But he meant what he said.

"Want some?" Naje offered Lee some Oreos.

"Nah I'm good man. It's all yours. Enjoy." Lee said to him. Naje started eating. He put his thumb at Lee as he smiled while chewing. Lee smirked while shaking his head and walked away.

Lee then went to Kenny. "Here Ken, you need to eat." Lee handed him the beef jerky.

"How about my boy? He eat yet?" Kenny asked about Duck.

"Yea. I gave him something." Lee answered.

"Then hand it over. I'm starvin'. Thanks." Kenny said as he took the jerky. Lee stayed with him.

"Word's gettin' out that you wanna leave the motor inn." Lee starting conversation with Kenny.

"That ain't no secret Lee. It's probably for the best. And I was thinking you should come with us. Along with Clem and Naje." Kenny said.

"Really?" Lee asked, a little surprised.

"Yea man. You've been a big help to me and my family. You earned it." Kenny told him.

"Well the coastline does sound nice." Lee said, being persuaded.

"I know it is. And I'm taking my family for sure." Said Kenny.

Lee pulled out the last food item from his pocket, which is the cheese and crackers he tried to give Carley, but she wanted Lee to keep it for himself or Clementine. Lee put it back in his pocket, thinking about keeping it for himself. But he decided to give it to someone else. Knowing that there were other people who went without food longer than him.

He went to approach Mark and Larry who were fixing the wall.

"Will ya hold the damn board steady?" Larry said to Mark in a frustrating way.

"I'm sorry.. I- I didn't realize I was getting this weak." Mark said.

"Well I've got 60 cents in my pocket if you shut up and stop being such a pansy." Larry said. Lee shook his head at the way Larry was talking to Mark. Lee walked up to Mark and Mark turned around to look at him.

"Eat something." Lee said to Mark, handing him the cheese and crackers. Mark took it smiling.

"Thanks Lee." Said Mark. He went back to helping out with the wall.

"Need any help?" Lee asked Larry and Mark.

"Nope." Larry disgustingly said.

"Actually we could use your ax. Do you mind?" Mark said.

"Yea. Give us that thing for a bit." Said Larry.

Lee handed the ax to Mark instead of Larry. "Here Mark." Lee said.

"Thanks." Mark said.

"Hey! What's the big idea? I'm the one doing all the work here. You didn't think to give me the ax?" Larry said.

"Come on Larry that's enough." Said Mark. "I'm pretty sure Lee is sick of you thinking that he's a danger to the group. Larry looked at Lee.

"Is that what you told'em?" Said Larry.

"Yea, that's right!" Lee exclaimed.

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Larry said as the two got into each other's face.

"Look! I don't know what you guy's problem is, but you have to get along." Mark said trying to find common ground between the two.

"The only think I HAVE to do is protect me daughter. Even if that means getting this damn wall fixed. So I'd like it if you two would shut up and let me get back to work!" Larry said going back to work on the fence. Lee shook his head and walked away. Mark looked a little saddened as Lee walked away.

Kenny walked up to Lee. "Hey Lee. Thanks again for looking out for me and my family."

"No problem." Lee replied.

"Still.. I guess some people aren't gonna be so sure about our decisions." Kenny added.

"You're out?! What happened to my food?" Larry said as he overheard Kenny.

"There's none left!" Lee said to him.

"You keep treating people like this, and your days in this group will be numbered." Larry exclaimed.

"You're one to talk old man." Kenny directed to Larry.

"Yea? Well I don't see you working on the wall." Said Larry as he walked off. Kenny shook his head looking angry and walked off too.

Lee then went to rest.


	10. Chapter 10

After a few minutes of resting for Lee, Katjaa then called out to Kenny and Lee to come where she was. She was treating the man who had his leg chopped off. He was lying in the back of a truck.

"Lee! Ken! Come here for a quick second!" Katjaa called them over. They came.

"He didn't make it, did he?" Kenny asked.

"He had lost too much blood.." Katjaa said.

"Goddammit! I'm gettin' sick of this shit.." Kenny angrily said as he walked off.

"Ken, wait. There's nothing-" Started Katjaa.

"Let him go Katjaa." Lee said, stopping her.

"That man.. I don't know if he was ever gonna make it." Katjaa said referring to the man with the chopped leg.

"Yea maybe you're right.. But at least we tried." Lee said trying to stay positive.

"What about the other kid?" Katjaa asked referring to Ben.

Before Lee could answered, Katjaa was grabbed by the man who had turned into a walker. Katjaa let out a scream.

"Katjaa!" Reacted Lee while trying to pull the walker and Katjaa away from each other, which he did successfully.

"The ax! Hurry!" Lee called out to Mark for the ax. The walker then grabbed Lee. The momentum pulled Lee onto the truck. Lee was smashing the walker's head side to side on the side of the truck. Mark then came with the ax.

"Step back!" Mark told Lee. Lee pushed the walker back and gave Mark a chance to swing the ax at it. But Mark missed and hit the window and the ax got stuck on a part of the truck. The walker grabbed at Lee's foot but Lee was able to kick it away. Lee backed all the way up until he fell off the truck. The walker fell on top of him. Lee was holding the walker back. He was digging his thumbs into it's eyes. Blood started streaming down. Carley came up with her gun and shot the walker in the head. Lee pushed it off of him.

"You okay?" Carley asked, checking on Lee.

"Just fine.. thanks." Lee responded. The rest of the group then came over.

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place, asshole?!" Said an angry Larry.

"Dad.. please.' Said Lilly trying to calm Larry down.

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Finished Larry.

Kenny was holding onto Katjaa until he saw Ben. Kenny was furious.

"Why didn't you tell us he was bitten?!" Hollered Kenny.

"What?" Ben said, scared.

"He was bitten and you didn't say a goddamn word!" Kenny was still hollering.

"He wasn't bitten! I swear!.." Ben trying to assure him.

"Well your non-bitten friend here just came back to life and tried to kill my wife!" Exclaimed Kenny.

"What? Wait.. you all don't know?" Said Ben. Everyone had their eyes on Ben.

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Kenny said.

"It's not the bite that does it.. You come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain that's what's gonna happen. It's gonna happen to all us.." Ben went on.

"You're lying.." Lee said in shock and denial.

"I'm afraid I'm not. I wish I was.." Ben assured him. "Because one of the girls at my school, Jenny Pitcher, I think, she went to the bathroom and took some pills. A lot of them. Someone went into the girl's bathroom the next morning and.. Jesus.."

Everyone just looked in shock and disbelief after hearing the words that came out of Ben's word.

"Back off!" Shouted Carley as she had her gun pointed at two men outside of the gate. One of the men was carrying a gas container.

"Whoa lady! Don't shoot! We're just lookin' for gas. Could you spare us? We're running low." The man holding the container said. Kenny then pulled out his rifle and aimed it at the men as well.

"I said back off!" Shouted Carley again still holding up her gun.

"Carley.." Lilly said trying to calm her down.

"We don't want any trouble." Lee said to the men.

"Of course! Neither do we. I'm Andy. This here's my brother, Danny. We're the St. Johns. We'll be on our way, but you'd really be helping out a fellow survivor if you could trade us for gas." Said the man.

"Why do you need gas?" Carley asked.

"We have an electric fence at our farm and we have a generator to keep it running. And the generator needs cause to keep it running." Andy said.

"How yall doin' on food? We got plently at the dairy." Danny said.

"Our generator runs on gas. Look, if you folks would be willing to lower your guns, we could talk about some sort of trade." Andy said trying to make a deal.

"Lee, why don't you and Mark go with them. Make sure the place is legit." Lilly said.

"I'll go too. Watch your backs." Carley volunteered to go with them.

"So.. do we have a deal?" Danny asked. The group all huddled up.

"I don't know guys. I don't think we should go. We're all starting to bong here at the motor inn. We've made something out of this place. I think we should stay." Lee said.

"Whoa whoa are you fucking crazy Lee?! We won't go another week without food! If you wanna stay here, then you can stay by your damn self!" Larry went off.

"Dad! Calm down.." Lilly said to Larry.

"Well I guess I'll ask everyone what they want." Said Lee. "Kenny?" Lee asked.

"Me and my family are going. We need the food Lee." Kenny answered for him, Kat, and Duck.

"Carley?"

"Let's at least check it out." Carley said.

"Mark?"

"I'm going." Mark answered.

"Lilly?"

"Me and my dad are going. Right dad?" Lilly asked.

"You betcha pumpkin." He assured her.

"Ben?"

"Going." Ben said.

"Naje?"

"I agree with you Lee, but we're running low on food.. So I'm going." Naje said.

"How about you Clementine?" Lee asked her.

"Lee.. I'm really hungry." She said.

"Well, I guess we're all going to a dairy."

The group broke huddle. They then had their attention back on the St. John brothers.

"We've got a deal. We'll bring some gas to your dairy, and in return, you give us some food." Lee said.

"Sounds great." Andy said.

"Alright everyone, listen up for a second. If the place seems legit, then I'll come back and gather you all up and we'll head back out there together." Carley said. Everyone nodded, agreeing.

Mark, Lee, Carley, and Ben then went out the gate and began walking with the St John brothers to their family's dairy.


	11. Chapter 11

While Lee, Carley, Ben, Mark, Andy and Danny St. John were headed to the dairy, the rest of the group at the motor inn were just waiting. Kenny and Katjaa were sitting together on a couch just chatting. Lilly and Larry were doing the same thing. Naje was playing hide-and-seek with Clem and Duck. Naje was it and he had to find them.

"Ready or not, here I come!" Naje said loudly, letting Clem and Duck know he was coming to find them. Clem and Duck were finding under the bed in one of the hotel rooms. Naje were trying hard to find them, but he couldn't. He then approached Kenny and Katjaa.

"Can you guys tell me where Duck and Clem are hiding?" He asked them. They both did the zipped lips motion and shrugged. Naje smirked and shook his head and continued searching.

"Do you think he'll find us under here?" Whispered Duck.

"I don't know.. Maybe." Whispered Clem.

Naje then opened the door to the room they were in. The two kids covered their mouths with their hands. He searched the room but still couldn't find him. As he was about to give up, for some reason he knew that they were in the room. So what he did was open the door and closed it and pretended that he walked out, but he was still in the room, but they didn't know.

"Is he gone?" Whispered Clem.

"I'm not sure." Whispered Duck.

"Check and see." Whispered Clem. As Duck pulled up the blanket to check, Naje was right there waiting.

"Hi." Naje greeted. He startled them both and they let out a short scream. Naje started laughing hysterically.

"Looks like I found you." Naje said. "Now get from under there, you're both gonna get dusty if you stay under there too long."

Clementine and Duck both came from under the bed.

"That was fun." Clem shouted with happiness.

"Yea! Can we keep playing, Naje?" Duck asked.

"Let's take a break guys. We've been playing for quite a while. Let's go out and wait to see if Carley's gonna come back." Said Naje.

"Okay." Agreed Duck.

"Thanks for playing with us. I know it might have been a little weird playing a game like hide-and-seek with little kids when you're an adult." Said Clem.

"Hey I was you guy's age too once. I use to play hide-and-seek with older people too. And besides, this makes me forget about the world now for a little while.." Naje went on.

"Well maybe we can play more often!" Said a happy Clem.

"We'll see guys. Now let's head out." Naje said. He opened the door for them so they can exit first and then he left out after them and closed the door. Duck went to sit with Kenny and Katjaa. Telling them how fun it was playing hide-and-seek with Naje and Clementine. Naje and Clem, on the other hand, sat down on another sofa next to each other. Clem then looked up at him.

"Naje.." Clem called for him.

"Yea?" He replied.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Clem asked.

"No.. why do you ask that?" Naje asked curiously.

"Well.. because.. you're such an amazing guy. How could you not have one?" Clem replied.

"Aww thanks Clem. I appreciate that." Naje smiled. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Naje asked her.

"No! I've never had one either." Clem said.

"Yea. You're still young. Maybe when you're older." Naje said.

"Will.. you be my boyfriend?.." Clem shyly asked, blushing a little. Naje gave her a funny look. What she said was still processing in his brain. He looked pretty confused.

"What..?" He asked confusingly as he chuckled a little.

"I know you're a little too old and I'm a little too young but.. it's just pretend. Please Naje?" Clem said looking up at him. He could just smile. Then he finally replied.

"Sure Clem. But it's just pretend." Naje accepted to be her fake boyfriend.

"Yay!" Clem shouted with excitement.

"But just one thing. NO kissing. Alright?" Naje said chuckling.

"Ok deal." Clem agreed. Clem held her pinkie out. Naje wrapped his pinkie around hers and they both smiled at each other.

Kenny looked over at Naje and Clem and smiled.

"Those two have been getting along since day one." Kenny said to Kat.

"I think their friendship is cute." Katjaa said.

"What's taking Carley so long to get back? Do you think something's happened to them? Like those guys-" Kenny nagged on.

"Ken! Calm down. There's no need to be suspicious. At least not right now." Katjaa tried to assure him.

"You know me Kat. I'm always kinda slow to get along with people I just met. I'm like that with every new person I come across." Kenny reminded her.

"I know hon. But they said they have food, and we really need it right now." Katjaa said.

"I sure hope they're right. I'm starvin'. We're all starvin'." Kenny said, looking down at the ground. Katjaa started rubbing his shoulder.

After a few minutes, Naje and Clem came over holding hands.

"Everyone. Meet my new girlfriend, Clementine." Naje said chuckling. Kenny, Kat, and Duck gave a funny look, but they all smirked. Duck had an open mouth smile.

"The hell?" Kenny said chuckling. "Are you.."

"It's just pretend." Naje assured them.

"Ohhhh okay." Kenny said.

"I think that's cute." Katjaa said smiling.

Meanwhile, Larry and Lilly were standing next to the boarded wall.

"Where's Carley? She should be back by now. It shouldn't take this long." Larry ranted. He crossed his arms.

"Hopefully nothing happened to them." Lilly said worriedly.

"Well I don't care what happens to Lee." Larry said.

"Dad.. don't be like that." Lilly said.

"The guy is a killer, Lilly! And not just a killer of one of those walkers. He killed another human being! Who knows? He may try to kill one of us. If this world wouldn't have gone to shit, he would be in prison as we speak. He would never have been here with us in the first place." Larry went on.

"Give the guy a little break dad. He's basically been given another chance. Let him try to start anew." Lilly said.

"I don't know Lilly. I just can't trust him." Said Larry. "And besides, we're not the only one who knows about Lee. Naje knows. Naje knows him better than anyone else here."

"Dad, it's been 3 months since all that stuff happen. And Lee's been a good guy to all of us." Lilly said.

"You just never know, Lilly. You just never know.." Larry said.

The dumpsters the group were using for gates were suddenly being pushed open. Kenny, Naje and Lilly were all alert and they had their guns pointed at the entrance, standing side by side in that order. It was Carley. Carley saw the three and froze and looked a little worried. They all lowered their guns. She came in and Ben followed behind her. She was holding a basket of bread they gave her.

"Oh my God. I thought you three were gonna gang kill me." She chuckled.

"Well we gotta stay alert and stay on our guards." Naje assured her.

"How's the place?" Kenny asked her.

"It seems okay. It's a beautiful looking place. Well set up." Carley said. "I was just coming back to tell you all that you can go whenever you're ready."

"Oh, and here's some bread for everyone. Everyone get once slice." Everyone got a slice and started eating it.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Lilly asked.

"Since me and Ben already got some of the bread on our way back here, I think we're good. Besides, someone has to look over the motor inn so it won't get taken over."

"That makes sense." Said Naje.

"You guys go ahead. And come back soon." Carley said.

Everyone nodded. Then they all headed out to the dairy together.


	12. Chapter 12

Mark and Lee were already at the dairy. They had gotten to know the St. Johns and the history behind the farm. Andy and Danny were living with their mother, Brenda St. John. They also mentioned Terry St. John, who was their father. They also mentioned he had passed. And in return, the family got to know stuff about Lee and his group info.

Lee and Mark volunteered to check the perimeter of the farm since Andy mentioned that when walkers got too close to the electric fence, some of them would get stuck on the fence, so they wanted to knock them off while Andy worked on the generator. He turned off the generator so Lee and Mark wouldn't get hurt if they touched it. Lee and Mark started to do what they volunteered to do.

"This farm is amazing." Mark said. "Hey, thanks for the rations earlier. It's not easy eating in front of the kids, but it's the only thing keeping me on my feet right now."

"No problem. I gave them something to eat too." Said Lee.

"I can't wait until everyone's here. Everyone except Larry." Mark said.

"Why'd you have to go and tell him that I said he think I'm a danger to the group?" Lee exclaimed.

"Look, you're the one who said it. You even admitted it right to his face!" Mark reminded him.

"I try to be civil at least!" Lee said.

"He's too cranky to notice." Mark said.

Lee and Mark saw one of the walkers stuck on the fence. It was long dead. Lee kicked its leg to make sure.

"Lee.. it's dead." Mark assured him.

Lee then pushed the walker off by using his ax. They then walked off looking for more.

"What do you think about the St. Johns? They seem to have this place secured." Said Mark.

"A fortress needs people to defend it. Otherwise, it's worthless." Lee said. "And we have enough people to take this place by force if we have to."

"Jesus Lee. You sound like Kenny." Mark said in a joking tone.

Lee and Mark came across another walker that was stuck on the fence. Lee pushed it over with the ax, but its hands were gripped around it. Lee chops its hands off.

"You never get use to the smell do you?" Mark asked smartly.

Lee chuckled. "Nope." He replied.

After a few minutes, there was another walker. It seemed to have knocked part of the fence down.

"There's another one. This one must have knocked the fence over." Said Mark. Lee and Mark surveyed it for a quick second. "I think we'd get better leverage from the other side."

Mark and Lee went to the other side of the fence and stood it back up. All of a sudden, the electric fence instantly came on.

"Holy fuck! What just happened?" Shouted Mark.

"The fences are on!" Exclaimed Lee.

"Why the fuck would he turn the fence on?! He knows we're out here." Said an angry Mark.

In the blink of an eye, Mark was shot by an arrow out of nowhere. He screamed out in pain as he put a hand on his shoulder. He was shot from some people in the woods. They were ranting on about some agreement.

"What the- get to the gate!" Shouted Lee. They tried running to the gate, but the arrows were firing and they couldn't get think. Lee thought quickly and saw a tractor.

"Behind the tractor!" Lee shouted. They both managed to hide behind the tractor.

"Who the hell are those guys?" Mark said loudly.

"No idea!" Shouted Lee.

"So what do we do now?" Asked Mark.

"With that fence on, that gate is the only way out!" Said Lee.

Lee was looking for a way to get the tractor moving so it would protect them as they moved. He pulled the lever from behind. He managed to do it before he was almost hit with an arrow. He then went to the front and pulled a big piece of wood that was put there to keep the tractor from moving forward. Lee and Mark stayed behind the tractor as it began moving forward. Then it was stopped by one of the walkers they knocked off the fence earlier.

"Why'd it stop?!" Asked Mark.

"One of the dead we knocked off earlier. I need to get it outta the way." Said Lee. Lee was able to move the walker out the way before getting hit. The tractor slowly started moving forward again. Then another walker stopped the tractor from moving. Lee tried to move it out the way, but this walker was still alive. It grabbed Lee and was almost bit him. Lee kicked it in the head and pulled away at at. The walker's body then split in half and it was still stuck under the wheel of the tractor. Lee pulled it aside and the tractor started moving again. But so was the walker as it started crawling towards Lee and Mark from behind, but it was hit in the head by one of the arrows those guys in the woods were shooting and instantly killed it. As the gate got closer, Lee and Mark then made a break for it and escaped.

Andy saw Lee and Mark running and ran towards them.

"Lee! What's wrong?!" He asked.

"The electric fence came on and some people started attacking us from the woods. And we got trapped between them and the fence." Lee replied.

Brenda came out and saw the arrow in Mark's shoulder. She came running out towards the men.

"Oh my Lord! What happened to you sweetheart?!" She asked worriedly.

"It's those bastards from the woods mama." Andy answered.

"Holy shit! Are-are you okay?" Came Danny.

"Yea, I'll be fine. But goddamn it hurts.." Mark said, trying to stay calm.

The rest of the group finally made their way to the dairy.

"Hey yall!" Kenny greeted, waving. They all then saw the arrow sticking out of Mark's shoulder and came rushing to him.

"Oh my goodness! Mark!" Cried Katjaa.

"Holy shit! Are you gonna be okay?!" Lilly said.

"Yea.. I should just.. pull it out." Mark said.

"Oh no darling. You come with me. Brenda will have you all sorted out." Brenda said. She took Mark into the house with her.

"What kinda shit is this?" Larry said.

"We got attacked by some people in the woods. Bandits, I think." Answered Lee.

"They gave us a lot of trouble in the past as well. Killed a lot of our farmhand. We were able to get them to stop by making a deal with them." Andy went on.

"You knew about these people?" Kenny asked them.

"Had to make a trade. It's not like we had any choice, but they did stop hassling us." Danny said.

"Maybe you were right Lee. Maybe this place isn't so safe.." Lilly said.

"So much for your "deal"." Lee directed to the brothers.

"Goddamn those bandits! Look, Lee. If I had known they were gonna give you some trouble, I would've gone out there with ya." Andy sorrowed. "Look, we may have had a deal with those people, but we will NOT stand for this shit!" Andy said angrily.

"Ain't no way those sons-a-bitches are gonna get away with this." Danny added.

"You know where these assholes are?" Kenny asked them.

"I at least know one of their camps are. Whenever you're ready, we can go check it out." Danny said to Lee.

Andy then saw Clem and Duck and he was reminded of something.

"Hey kids! Look what Lee did." He said, pointing at the swing. Clementine and Duck looked at it with excitement.

"A swing! I love swings! Just like at my treehouse. Come on Duck!" Said a happy Clementine. Clementine grabbed Naje's hand. "Thanks Lee! You're the best!" She added.

"Yea!" Duck agreed. They started running towards the swing. Clementine, Naje, Kenny, and Duck.

"Man.. no wonder you're the leader of your group." Andy said to Lee with a smile. Then Andy walked off.

"I'm gonna go check out that bandit camp with Danny. You guys should make friends with Andy and Brenda." Lee said.

"Well that's easy. I've got charm coming out of my ass." Larry jokingly said with a smile.

"Yea.. that's real charming dad.." Lilly said smartly.

"Where's Ben and Carley?" Lee asked.

"Since they already had some of the food, they had decided to watch over the motor inn until we got back." Lilly answered.

Everyone then got settled in at the dairy and patiently waited for dinner.


	13. Chapter 13

After everyone got settled, Lee went to Clementine. She was with Duck and Kenny. Kenny was already pushing Duck on the swing. Naje was with her, but Katjaa asked him if he would assist her with the family's cow in the barn since it was a little sick. Lee squatted down to talk to Clementine.

"Hey Clem. Do you like the swing?" He asked her.

"Yea! It's fun! Thanks for fixing it!" Clem said.

"No problem." Lee said,

"Will you push me on it?" Clem said with an open mouth smile.

"Sure! Happy to push you on the swing." He said to her. "Mind if Clementine gets a turn?" Lee asked Lee and Duck.

"Alright Duck, let Clementine have a turn for a bit." Kenny said to Duck as he stopped pushing. "

"Ok." Said Duck as he jumped off the swing. He and Kenny stepped aside as Clementine sat on the swing and Lee began to slowly push her.

"How are you holding up Clementine?" Lee asked her.

"I'm ok, I guess. Are you okay?" She responded.

"Yea I'm just a little worried about Mark." Lee replied.

"Is Mark going to be ok?" Clem asked him.

"He got lucky out there. Could've been a lot worse." Lee assured.

"Are you going to find the people who hurt Mark?" Asked Clem, worriedly.

"Well we have to make sure they don't hurt anyone else." Lee answered.

"Be careful. I want you to be lucky too." Clem said.

"Ever since I met you I've had good luck. So don't worry." Lee said nicely with a smile.

"Ok." Clem said also smiling.

"What do you think of the dairy?" Lee asked.

"It's beautiful. It reminds me of how things use to look before." Clem happily said.

"Yea it does." Agreed Lee.

"Do you think things will ever go back to how they were?" Asked a curious Clem.

"I'm not sure Clem.. I hope so." Lee said unsure.

"I hope so too." Clem agreed.

"But don't worry, we're safe here." Lee assured her.

"As long as the bad people don't get me too right?" Clementine asked him.

"I won't let what happened to Mark happen to you." He assured her again.

"Promise?" Clem asked.

"I promise." Lee said.

"Lee, I wanna tell you something."

"What is it sweet pea?" He asked.

"Me and Naje are boyfriend and girlfriend." Said Clem.

Lee just started laughing and looking confused just like everyone did.

"You really did have a crush on him when you met him at the drugstore didn't you?" Lee said chuckling.

"But it's just pretend though!" Clementine added. "And no kissing, we agreed. That was his idea. We only started fake dating while you were already here. Everyone else already knows too."

"Well that's cute. I'm happy for you guys." Lee joked. "But alright Clem, that's enough for now." Lee said, referring to him pushing her on the swing.

"Ok. Thanks for pushing me!" Clem said as she got off the swing.

"Of course." Lee said. "It's all yours." He said to Duck and Kenny.

"Yea!" Happily shouted Duck.

"Ok Duck, do't pop a gasket." Kenny joked to him. Kenny began pushing Duck on the swing again. Lee left to go to the brothers as Clem stayed with Kenny and Duck, watching them.

A few minutes later, Naje came out of the barn.

"Thanks again for your help Naje." Said Katjaa from inside the barn.

"No problem Kat." Said Naje, walking out the barn and closing the door.

Naje looked around to see who all he could see in his sight. He spotted Clementine and walked towards her. She saw her coming her way and waved at him. He squatted down to talk to her.

"Hey girlfriend." Naje said.

"Hey Naje." Said a happy Clem.

"Hey Naje, if you want, you can push Clementine on the swing. I need to give my arms a break." Said Kenny. He stopped pushing Duck on the swing. "Let's go to your mother, Duck."

"Fine." Duck said. Kenny and Duck went in the barn with Katjaa, who was staying in there with the bear. Naje held his hand out towards the swing.

"May I?" Naje asking Clem if he could push her on the swing. She smiled and sat on the swing. She then saw Lee leaving out the barn with Danny, assuming they were gonna go find the bandit camp. "Hold on!" She said to Naje as she rushed to Lee.

"You're going already?" Asked Clementine to Lee.

"Yea. Don't worry Clem. I'll be back before you know it." Lee assured her.

"Please be lucky." Clem said to him.

"I will." He responded. Lee looked towards Naje and waved. He waved back. Lee and Danny left out and Clem watched Lee leave for a bit. She rushed back towards Naje and sat on the swing. Naje began pushing her slowly.

"Opinion about the dairy Clem?" Naje asked, making conversation.

"I like it. It's pretty." Clem answered.

"Same here. I'd like it a whole lot better once we be able to eat." Naje said.

"When do you think we'll be able to eat?" Clem asked him.

"I don't even know. Just hope that lady, Brenda, I think is her name, is cooking something good." Said Naje.

"Yea. Something good would be nice." Agreed Clem. Naje chuckled. Naje then sighed, looking pretty saddened. Clem heard his sigh and looked back at him.

"What's wrong Clem?" Clem asked. He sad face were making her face.

"Oh nothing Clem. It's just that.. I haven't seen my family since all of this started." Said a saddened Naje.

"Aww. It's okay Naje. You got us." Clem said, trying to cheer her up. "I haven't seen my parents either.."

"That's also what I'm thinking about. I can't imagine how you feel right now Clem, especially for someone so young." Naje said, pretty glum.

"I know.. But I have faith I'll see then again someday. And I'm gonna keep holding onto that faith. I'm also gonna hope you can find your family too. We're gonna be okay." Clem said, smiling.

"Thanks Clementine. You're the best girlfriend I've ever had." Said Naje.

"And you're the best boyfriend I've ever had. Also the first and probably my last." Clementine said.

"Let's hope that we can stay together for a long time." Naje said smiling.

"That would also be nice." Clem said.

"Ok Clem, that's enough swinging for now." Naje said. Clem got off the swing.

"Okay. Thanks for pushing me, Naje." Clem said happily. Naje had a smile on his face.

"No problem. Now let's go in the barn with the others and the cow." Clementine and Naje held each other's hand and walked each other to the barn and went inside.


	14. Chapter 14

After about 20-30 minutes, Lee and Danny finally made their way back to the dairy.

"Jesus Danny.." Lee said as he tossed Danny his gun.

"What? You're not gettin' soft on them, are ya? Not after what they did to your friend.." Danny replied.

"You're back! What happened?" Brenda said to them as she came out the house.

"Handled it mama!" Danny replied and went and sat on a tree stomp next to the swing. Lee went inside the gate to the house and went up the steps to talk to Brenda.

"This isn't what Terry would've wanted.." A glummed Brenda said.

"Terry?" Lee asked curiously.

"My husband. Miss him everyday." Brenda said in a sad way.

"Then screw it up for everyone why don't ya!" Lilly hollered to Kenny away from Lee and Brenda's distance.

"Oh calm down princess. I'll do it myself." Kenny said back to her. The two then walked away from each other.

"What're they doin'?" Lee asked Brenda.

"I don't know.. Squabblin' looks like it. Lotta tension with y'all, huh?' Brenda replied.

"Yea you can say that. They don't exactly see eye to eye. They're both are trying to lead the group." Lee answered.

"That's probably just the hunger talkin." Brenda chuckled. "We all have our problems but they'll get fixed out eventually." Lee nodded.

"And Lee, don't worry your head about them bandits. I'm sorry you've seen more than I'da thought in your short time, but you all are safe here. Don't worry."

Lee nodded. "Think I'll go have a look around." Lee said.

"Don't wander too far. Dinner will be ready before ya know it." Said Brenda. "And thank your friends Katjaa and Naje again for me. They and the kids are in the barn with Danny and the cow. Those two are a lifesaver!" Brenda mentioned. Lee nodded once again and walked down the steps and out the gate.

As he looked over at the barn, the barn door had opened up a little and at the door was Clementine. She waved at Lee and closed the door back. Lee decided to head over there. When he opened it, everyone was looking at the cow.

Clementine was looking hard at the cow, but she was a little nervous about petting it. "It's okay Clementine, you can pet her." Katjaa assured her with a smile. Clementine looked over at Lee. "It's okay, go ahead." He also assured her. Naje gave Clementine a gentle tap on the shoulder saying "go ahead".

Clementine began to pet the cow on the stomach and the head. "Whoaa..." Clementine said in amazement. "Katjaa said Maybelle could have her baby tonight."

"We'll see Clementine." Katjaa said.

Lee spotted a strange object. It was a cube shaped block with a circle cut into it. "What's this?" He asked

"Daddy said it's called a salt lick." Duck answered.

"Yea, but don't lick it. It's gross!" Clem said in disgust. Lee smiled at her and crossed his arms.

"Did you lick it?" Lee asked her.

"...I don't know..." Clem said in guilt while also looking guilty. Naje, without making a sound, lip read to Lee saying "Yes she did." while nodding behind Clementine's back. Clementine looked at him and gave him a little hit on the shoulder.

Lee reached for something in his jacket. "Here, Clementine." He handed her the unknown object. Katjaa and Naje smiled at what it was.

"My hat!" Clem happily shouted. She put on her head and pressed it down lightly and kept her hands on it. "I knew you'd find it! You said you would!"

"Listen Clem. Did you give your hat to anyone?" Lee asked.

"No." Clem answered.

"Did you see anyone around the motor inn who might have taken it?" He asked again.

"No.. why?" Clem said.

"Eh, it's probably nothing. Just let me know if you ever see anything like that." Lee told her.

"Okay I will." Clem said. "Hey Lee, do you think you'll ever have kids?" Clem randomly asked.

"I'd like to someday, Clem. Maybe even a little girl like you." Lee answered honestly with a smile.

"That's good. You'd be a good daddy."Clem said to him. He continued smiling at her until he looked away. Clementine paid her attention back to the cow.

"Have I missed anything?" Lee asked Duck.

"No not really." Duck said. Duck started sniffing. "Something smells funny in here."

"Like manure!" Clem said.

"What's manure?" Duck asked.

"Doo-dee." Clem answered. Clem and Duck began laughing.

"Kids.." Katjaa said with a smirk. Duck and Clem then stopped laughing. Lee smiled at the two.

Lee walked around inside the barn and checked the stall doors. Most of them had a feeding trough in them. For the cow. One certain one had a tub of dirty clothes in them, which smelled pretty foul. Lee then went to the door at the end of the barn, which had a lock on it. As Kenny came into the barn and saw Lee at the door, he rushed towards him.

"You found it too, huh? Kenny said to him. "Lee, they're hiding something. Behind this door. I got a quick look. They got boxes of stuff. And something metal and sharp."

"Don't get paranoid." Lee told him.

"It's my job to be paranoid, Lee. I've got my family on this farm." Kenny said. "What about you? What about Clem?"

"I'll protect her not matter what." Lee replied.

"I know you will." Kenny said back.

"Look, that guy with Katjaa, Naje, and the kids.. Whats-his-name. He locked it up real tight when we came in here. I definitely heard something back there, Lee. A noise." Kenny finished.

"What?" Lee curiously asked.

"That's the thing. I don't know exactly what. That's why we gotta find out and know for sure." Kenny responded. "So go find a screwdriver or something. This thing has screws screwed into it. You know where to find one? If you can find one, I'll have this thing off in a second. Just have my back, okay?"

"Look, Kenny. You gotta think this through. You smash this door open and what if it turns out that you're wrong? You just fucked up a chance for everyone, including the kids, of a meal. Use your head, man." Lee said.

"Okay "professor". What do you have in mind?" Kenny asked.

"Let me see." Lee said as he looked at the lock.

"Umm, Lee.. you wouldn't know how to pick a lock, do ya?" Kenny asked with shame.

"No! Why would you think that?" Lee said confusingly.

"Oh you're.. you know.. Urban?.." Kenny told him.

"Oh you are not saying what I think you're saying.." Said Lee.

"Jesus man I'm from Florida! Crazy shit just comes out my mouth sometimes. Sorry." Kenny said. Lee looked at the lock.

"Looks like you're right, Ken. All we need to do is take off the assembly, have a peek inside, then put it back on like nothing ever happened." Lee said.

"Alright. Sounds good. I'll hang around here and keep an eye on the guy with the cow." Kenny said.

"Andy." Lee corrected him.

"Shit. I thought that was Danny. Whatever.." Said a confused Kenny.

"Can I help you boy with something?" Andy asked the two men as he approached them.

"Just checking out the barn. Never been to a dairy farm before." Lee excused.

"Ok. Just don't go roaming around too much without me or Danny. The farm can be a dangerous place." Andy assured them. "You know. The bandits and all. Sorry about your friend." Andy consoled.

"Hey and uhh, do me a favor. Don't fuck around with this door. Just.. you know. Mama gets nervous." He told them.

"Andrew! I need your help again!" Katjaa called for Andy.

"No problem! Right away doc." Andy said going to her. Lee and Kenny nodded to each other, with the plan to getting that lock off.


	15. Chapter 15

Lee headed out the barn, going to look for something to get the padlock off the door at the of the barn. Naje looked at him suspiciously. He was wondering was he was doing. Then he stopped worrying about it and payed his attention back to Clementine and the others.

Lee came back into the barn and showed Kenny a multi-tool.

"Alright! That's what I'm talkin' about!" Kenny said happily. Kenny and Lee walked to the door to get the padlock off the door. Right as Lee was about to get it off, the dinner bell rung.

"Dinnertime! It's dinnertime!" Said an excited Duck. He jumped up and ran to Kenny. "Dad! Daaad! Come on! Let's eeeeat!" Naje and Clementine got up and stood next to the door waiting for everyone to come so they all could go together.

"Ken, come on. Don't make the children wait." Said Katjaa. Clementine clutched onto Naje's hand as the two headed to the house together.

"I'll make an excuse for ya. Get that thing off." Kenny told Lee as he walked with everyone else to the house.

As everyone was out the barn, Lee began screwing the screw out of the padlock. There were 4 screw in it. When he finally was able to get all of them out, he slowly opened the door. His eyes had widened due to the things he had saw. There were saw blades, blood, jars with body part in them and dangerous weapons.

"Boy, did you hear the bell?" Andy said from behind. Lee turned around. "Dinnertime." Andy finished.

"Why is there so much?" Lee asked.

"Look, we do have to go out hunting every now and then. Whenever we catch something, we bring it back here, skin it, and redress it. Mama don't like us making a big mess in the house so.. there you go." Andy went on. Lee just gave him a look of suspicion and went to go to the house. Andy shook his head and walked to the house after him.

As Lee and Andy went in, everyone was already sitting at the table. Talking and waiting for Brenda bring to the food to the table.

Naje and Clementine were sitting next to each other. "I'm so ready to eat!" She said to him. "Me too. My stomach's been having a conversation with me." He said back to her chuckling. She chuckled too.

"Alright everyone's. Dinner's on it's way. A big feat for all you hungry souls." Brenda announced.

"Where's Mark?" Lee asked her.

"Don't you worry about him. I already gave him his food upstairs. Just let him rest." Brenda said.

"Mind if I wash my hands first?" Lee asked politely.

"You go right ahead. And be sure to get up under your nails. You've been digging around in much all day." Brenda answered. She then went to go get the food. Lee went to the bathroom across the hall but he never did wash his hands. He was looking around it. He also look at the hall windows, seeing family pictures and accolades the family earned. Lee decided to walk up the stairs to check on Mark. He slowly walked up them and as he was almost to the top, the stairs made a slight creaking sound. Lee turned his head back to see if anyone heard, but luckily no one did. He finished walking up the rest of the stairs.

Lee entered the room Brenda said Mark was in, but there was no one in there. Lee was starting to worry. He looked on the floor as saw some blood. There was thundering outside. A storm was coming. There was a bookshelf blocking a room door. Lee pushed it out the way and slowly opened the door. While the door was opening, there was Mark on the ground, covered in blood. The worst part is.. his legs were gone!

"Lee..." Mark cried out. Lee looked in fear as he squatted down. "Mark?.. What happened to you?!" Lee freaked out.

"..Brothers.." Mark replied with agony in his voice.

"What the hell happened to your legs, man?" Lee panicked.

"Don't...eat...dinner." Mark warned him. Lee's eyes opened and so did his mouth. Brenda was calling for Lee, asking if he had fallen in the tub or something. Everyone else was getting ready to eat.

"Clementine!" Lee said worriedly. Lee went out the room and rushed down the stairs. He ran to the walkway of the kitchen and spotted Clementine, who almost put the fork with the human meat on it in her mouth.

"DON'T EAT THAT!" Lee screamed. That stopped Clementine and everyone else and she put the fork down.

"What's wrong Lee?" Naje asked.

"Jesus, Lee. Did you find something?" Kenny also asked.

"Oh sit your ass down Lee! This lady has made you a meal!" Larry exclaimed.

"Yea Lee. What's gotten into you?!" Lilly added.

"Mark is upstairs with his fucking legs cut off! You were just about to eat him!" Lee directed. Everyone tried to calm Lee down.

"You're scaring the kids, Lee." Kenny said.

"Lee, what the hell is wrong with you?" Lilly was getting nervous.

"Don't indulge him Lilly. It's always something with this guy." Larry said.

Duck was the only person that had ate some of the food. Katjaa snatched his plate away from him. "Moooom I was eating that.." Duck groaned. "Shut up sweetie."

"We need to get the kid, everyone out of here! We need to go now!" Lee ordered.

"Everything could've turned out alright for you folks." Said Danny.

"He would've died anyway. We gotta think about livin'!" Andy barked.

"Settle down honey." Brenda said to Andy. "Growing up in rural Georgia, you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised and how I raised my boys. And now you got monsters roaming that do nothing but eat people! And for what? To continue to rot until they eat some more! We think we could put that meat to better use.." Brenda went on.

"You're all sick.. Sick in the head." Lee directed again.

"Lee.. that's not a very thing to imply." Brenda said. "Andy is right. We go after people who're gonna die anyway. One way or another."

"Like yall.." Danny sadistically said. There was a moment of intense silence.

"Clementine, run!" Lee shouted to her. Clementine was looking scared and wasn't sure what to do.

"Nobody's going anything!" Danny yelled as he stood up. He took his handgun out and pointed it. So did Danny.

"We got lots of use to you folks right here." The group members were angered. Warning the St. Johns family to not do anything they may regret and demanding that they let them go.

"Everyone! Everything will be okay!" Lee tried to assure.

"Lee.. Lee..." Said a frightened Clementine. Andy roughly grabbed her by the hair and she let out a scream. Lee and Naje were furious.

"LET HER THE FUCK GO YOU FUCKING-" Naje yelled as he got up, but was stopped when Andy pointed the gun to him.

"YOU FUCKER! I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" Lee also yelled. Lee was about to run at Andy, but was stopped by Danny, who pointed his gun to Lee's cheek. Lee backed off and gave Danny an angry stair.

There was then a thump coming from the hallway. It specifically came from the stairs. There was another intense moment of silence. Everyone had a curious look to see what it was.

"Please.. someone.." It was Mark who was crawling towards the kitchen. The group members all gasped and looked in shock. Lee looked back at Clementine, who was still looking in fear.

"Clemen-" Lee shouted, but was cut off as Danny knocked him out with his gun.

"LEE!" Naje and Clementine simultaneously screamed!


	16. Chapter 16

After getting knocked out by Danny with a gun, Lee woke up finding himself in a meat locker. But he wasn't alone. Kenny, Lilly, Larry, Naje, and Clementine were in there as well. The adults were trying to find a way out. Clem rushed to Lee as she saw him waking up. "Lee!" Naje also rushed to him.

"It was a person! They tried to make us eat a person!" Clem freaked out.

"But you didn't though." Lee assured.

"The rest of us did goddammit! If you hadn't have dragged your feet!" Larry barked.

"Enough dad!" Lilly hollered.

"You okay Clementine? They didn't hurt you did they?" Lee asked her.

"Mm mm." Clem said shaking her head.

"Lee! They psychos have my family and we're stuck in a damn meat locker! We've got to get the FUCK outta here!" Screamed Kenny.

"Naje, what happened while I was out?" Asked Lee.

"They just locked us in here. They have Duck and Katjaa somewhere else. I don't even know where.." Naje answered. "We gotta get the hell outta here Lee!"

"I'm scared.." Clem said to Lee. Lee stood up.

"Don't worry. We're gonna get outta here." Lee promised.

"Can I help?" Clem asked.

"Sure honey." Lee said. Lee, Naje, and Clem helped the others find a way out.

After a few minutes, no one had any success. Larry was getting really worked up. He was banging on the door as hard as he could. Moments later, he started groaning and holding his chest.

"Dad! Easy.." Lilly calming her dad down.

"Oh God.." Larry said, then he collapsed to the floor. He was assumed dead. Clementine gasped and covered her mouth.

Lilly went down to the ground checking her dad's heart and screaming and crying for him to wake up. She was giving him CPR by just pushing down on his chest.

"Is he dead?" Kenny asked.

"He's not dead! Somebody help me!" Lilly cried out.

"Shit.. if he's dead.."

"DAMMIT KENNY HE'S NOT DEAD!" Lilly exclaimed. Kenny looked at Lee.

"Lee, you know what's gotta be done. Come on. You saw that poor bastard at the motor inn. How fast he turned." Kenny mentioned.

"What are you saying?!" Said a confused Lilly.

"Lilly I'm so so sorry. But in a matter of seconds, we're going to be trapped in a meat locker with a 6 foot 4, 300 pound, seriously pissed off dead guy." Said Kenny.

"Fuck you! I don't need your help!" Lilly directed to Kenny. "Lee!" She cried.

"Kenny.. Ma-Maybe Lilly can still save him." Stuttered Lee.

"I wish she could. Believe me, I do! But that man is dead." Kenny thought for sure.

"Look Kenny. Back at the drugstore when everyone thought Duck was bitten. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we could do the same here." Lee trying to be convincing.

"That was different. Duck wasn't bitten. Come on! We know this guy's not gonna make it. Remember what Ben said.. we gotta destroy the brain." Kenny mentioned.

"Come on Lee! I know you have my back on this. You always have!" Kenny barked.

"Goddammit Lee! I need you! Please help me!" Lilly cried out again.

Lee had to make a decision on whether to help Lilly save Larry or help Kenny prevent Larry from turning into a walker. Lee was nervous, locking both his hands with his fingers and pressing them down on his head. He finally decided to help Lilly.

"Is he breathing?" Lee asked Lilly. Lee knelt down to check on Larry.

"I-I don't know. I'll check his pulse." Lilly answered. Lee started to push down on Larry's chest while counting. Kenny was shaking his head, disappointed. He found a salt lick block and grabbed it.

"I'm sorry..." Kenny sorrowed. Then he used the block to crush Larry's head. The blood splattered in Lilly's face.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Lilly loudly screamed out.

"Kenny! Wh-What the fuck?!" Lee exclaimed.

Kenny had a look of shock. He couldn't believe he did what he did, but he felt as it it needed to happen. "I'm sorry.. but it had to be done."

"You don't know that!" Lee said.

"Yes I do. And so did you Lee. I was countin' on you man." Kenny replied. He then went to try to comfort Lilly. "Lilly, I'm so sorry."

"Don't you fucking touch me!" Lilly angrily yelled as she snatched away from Kenny.

Lee heard Clementine crying from behind her. He turned to her. Naje was already holding her, comforting her.

"Let me talk to her." Lee said to Naje. Naje nodded. Lee squatted down to talk to Clem.

"Is it over?" Clementine asked him.

"Not yet. We still have to find a way out of here." Lee answered. Clem began to cry again and Lee hugged her.

"Shh shh I know. But you have to be strong. I need you to be strong. Think of something else. Something hopeful." Lee said trying to cheer her up.

"Like what?" Clementine wondered.

"Your walkie talkie. Those pretend talks with your mommy and daddy. Don't those make you feel better?"

"Sometimes." Clem said softly. "We're gonna get out, right? You found a way out? " Clem asked Lee.

"I'm workin' on it." Lee answered. He got up to start finding a way out again.

"Hey guys. What about this air conditioner?" Naje pointed out. "Maybe there's a way out through there if we removed it."

"Hmm I don't think we have anything on us to remove it." Lee said. He then gasped. "Wait! The multi-tool!" Lee shouted. He felt his pockets and felt nothing. "Of course they took it. Shit!"

"I've got a rock. Would that help?" Clem said.

"Nah a rock won't really help." Lee answered.

"Clem, why exactly do you have a rock?" Naje said chuckling. She just shrugged her shoulders with a smile on her face.

"Maybe a coin would help." Said Lee. Lee then looked at Larry. "Oh shit..." Lee muttered. He remembered Larry mentioning back at the motor inn that he had 60 cents in his pocket. Lee went to talk to Lilly and was asking and persuading her to search his corpse.

Naje went to Clementine and went down to a knee. He wasn't gonna propose to her though. He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We're close to getting out of here Clem. Just hang on for maybe just a few minutes and everything will be okay." Naje assured her.

"Okay.. What are we gonna do when we get out of this room?" She asked him.

"We're gonna get off this farm." Naje intensely said. Clem nodded then looked at Larry. Naje turned her head back to him.

"Hey, don't worry your head about him, alright? I hate that it happened and I hate that you had to see it." Naje said.

"I know. It's just.. I just wanna get out." Clem said.

"Clem. We are gonna get out. Trust me." Naje assured her again.

Lee looked at Naje and Clem and smiled. Her turned his attention back to the air conditioner. He used a quarter he got from Larry's pocket and used it to screw the screws off of it. After that, he and Kenny placed it down to the ground. There was a hole behind that possibly led to another room.

"Well looks like our way out, Lee." Kenny said.

"Yea but the hole's too small for us to fit through." Lee said.

"Maybe I could fit.." Clementine volunteered.

"You know you don't have to do this." Lee said to her.

"I know. I just wanna go home." Clem said softly.

"This will take us home." Kenny told her.

Clementine took a deep throat then exhaled. "Okay." Clem said.

Lee and Naje aided her up so she could get up to the vent. "What do I do when I get to the other side?" Clem asked them.

"Try to find a way to this door." Lee said. Clementine began climbing through. Everyone was just waiting for her, hoping that nothing goes wrong. They then heard her gasp. They all had a look of concern on their faces. The door to the room had started to twist and then it opened. It was Clementine. They all gave a sigh of relief. Naje hugged her and she hugged him back.

"We thought something had happened to you." Naje said to her.

"You okay, Clementine? Did anyone see you?" Lee asked her.

"No, but there was a man outside." Clem answered him.

"You wanna check it out Lee?" Kenny asked.

"Yea I'm right behind you." Lee said. Kenny walked out the the room that was locked. That's where the vent led to. "Take care of Lilly, ok?" Lee directed to Clementine.

"Okay." Clementine said, nodding her head.

"And Naje, take care of both the girls. Alright?" Lee asked Naje.

"You got it." Naje said.

Lee followed up behind Kenny to the room. It was time that the group escaped this farm.


	17. Chapter 17

While inside that horrifying room, Kenny and Lee were trying to figure out a plan to escape without getting caught. They were disgusted at the sight of the room. Kenny peeked around the door they Lee had to pretty much break through to see what was on this side. There he saw Danny outside of the barn with his gun laying up next to him.

Lee grabbed a cattle prod in case he needed it. Lee and Kenny ducked down so they would make less noise.

"What are you thinking?" Lee asked Kenny.

"I'm thinking about gettin' the jump on this guy. You with me? This time.." Kenny said. Lee gave him a look.

"Yea, let's get'tem." Said Lee.

"Alright." Kenny responded.

Lee and Ken started sneaking up towards Danny when Andy came outta nowhere to talk to him. Lee and Kenny quickly hid inside one of the stall doors in the barn to prevent Andy from spotting them. Danny and Andy were talking about who they should kill and how they should kill them. After a few minutes after everything was quiet, Lee slowly opened the stall door to see where Danny was. Surprisingly, Danny was right at the door with his gun pointed at Lee's face.

Lee quickly reacted and swatted the gun away. That caused Danny to accidentally pull the trigger. Luckily, it didn't hit Lee. Danny was quickly trying to reload it, but Lee used the cattle prod on him, electrifying Danny. Danny let out a scream, but was able to hit Lee with the gun. The hit knocked him down. Danny pointed the gun at Lee. Kenny pushed the open and the door knocked the gun out of Danny hand. Then came Lilly who used a cleaver to cut into Danny's shoulder. Naje and Clementine followed after her. Danny stepped on a bear trap and fell to the ground.

Lee grabbed a pitchfork and held it as if he were gonna stab Danny.

"You see how the world works now, right? Give part of yourself so other people can live." Danny cried.

"We should fucking kill you right now." Lilly exclaimed.

"Cannibalism is not the answer! Aren't the walkers eating enough of us?!" Lee hollered.

"You can't kill me! If you do, the meat gets tainted. You can't eat it!" Danny said.

"You're already tainted!" Replied Lee.

Lee threw the pitchfork, but he didn't kill Danny with it. He stuck it into a haystack next to him.

"This is NOT how the world works now! You won't make me kill you!" Lee exclaimed.

Lee looked at the others and nodded his head. They nodded their heads back to them, agreeing with the decision to not kill him. There was then a scream that came from the distance. It sounded like Katjaa. Kenny then instantly started running towards the scream.

"You guys stay inside the barn and look after each other, alright? Me and Kenny got this. Unless he hasn't done anything already." Lee said,

"Alright. We'll be right here." Naje told him.

Lee went outside and stood under a platform to keep the rain from falling on him. He looked over in the mini cornfield and there was a walker approaching. But it got cut down from behind. It was Carley. And Ben followed up behind her.

"Carley!" Lee whispered.

"Lee! Is everyone okay? We heard screams as we were coming out to the house." Carley said.

"We need your help!" Lee said.

"Yeah, when you guys didn't come back I figured something was up." She said. "What can we do? What happened?"

"They attacked us! Larry's dead. They cut off Mark's legs and tried to feed them to us! And I don't know where the fuck Kenny is! Duck and Katjaa are in the house. Lilly, Naje, and Clementine are right inside the barn here. They're okay." Lee told her.

"Shit... Alright. We're coming to help." Carley assured him. Carley and Ben started finding a way into the farm without being caught or noticed.

Lee began sneaking towards the house. On his way, he started hearing screams and cries from Katjaa. As Lee made his way up to the door, there was Brenda with her arm wrapped around Katjaa's throat and a gun up to the side of her head. He slowly entered the house.

"Lee! You just had to stick your nose in our business didn't you?!" Brenda directed to Lee from inside the house.

"Let her go Brenda." Lee calmly said. Lee slowly started approaching her.

"Stay back or I'll kill her!" Brenda warned him.

"Brenda.. you know you don't wanna do this." Lee said to her.

"Just go away and let us be." Replied Brenda as she took a few steps up the stairs. Lee stared walking closer again.

"Don't you take another step!" Warned Brenda again. This time she pointed the gun at Lee.

"Wh-what happened Brenda?! Your family was obviously smart! How'd it come down to this?" Lee said.

"Just don't move! Don't do something we'll all regret." Brenda put the gun back to Katjaa's head and took more steps up the stairs to get away from Lee. She was grabbed by Mark, who had turned into a walker. He bit down on Brenda's neck, making her release Katjaa and the gun.

"They got Duck!" Katjaa cried.

"I said don't move asshole!" Andy shouted from outside.

"Don't you fucking hurt him!" Kenny shouted back. Katjaa and Lee rushed outside.

There was Andy grabbing the back of Duck's shirt with his gun in his other hand. And Kenny was standing in front within about 8 feet away. Kenny ran at Andy and got shot in his side. Kenny fell to the ground holding his side as Katjaa came running to him.

"Andy!" Lee shouted as he raised his hands up.

"Who the fuck do you people think you are?! Look at what you've done!" Andy shouted.

"You brought this upon yourself!" Lee responded.

"Us? All we wanted was just a little gas!" Andy said. From a distance, Carley shot Andy in the shoulder with her own gun. Lee took advantage and tried to take Andy's gun away. He and Andy were tug-of-warring with the gun, then Lee pushed the gun in Andy's face. They then fell down the hill and broke a part of the fence down in the process. Andy got up before Lee and punted him in the head. Andy turned the generator on to turn on the electric fence and dragged Lee towards it. Lee was trying to punch Andy but Andy was still dragging him.

Andy was trying to push Lee's face into it. That's where Lilly got involved. As Naje and Clementine watched, Lilly shot Andy in the same shoulder Carley shot him at. That forced Andy to release Lee and fall to the ground. Lee got on top of Andy and started punching him. Left and right repeatedly. This went on for a while. Andy's face was getting bruised up. Lee was getting tired but was still punching. The group was just watching, speechless. Lee was still punching, but was slowing down. Yet, he didn't stop. Carley finally stepped in.

"Lee! Stop. He's had enough." Carley said. Lee stopped what he was doing and stood up.

"Is.. is that all you got Lee? You ain't shit!" Andy said, still laying on the ground. His face was all bruised up and he lost a tooth.

"It's over!" Lee shouted.

Andy was beginning to get up. "Fuck you! When mama and Danny come out here.. you-you're all fucked!" Shouted Andy as he did a little chuckle.

"I said it's over! Just walk away!" Lee yelled. Lee was starting to walk to his group.

"Don't you dare walk away from me Lee! Just back here and finish this Lee!" Andy said loudly.

Lee stopped, looked back at Andy, then turned back to his group. He decided to just walk away with his group.

"They're getting in!" Clementine notified everyone about the walkers getting through the fence as she pointed at them.

"Let's go." Lee ordered. He took a last look at Andy then walked away. Everyone else followed behind.

"Leeeeeeee!" Andy cried out as he fell to his knees.

The group was walking through the forest back to the motor inn. No one was hardly saying anything.

"Hey Lee. I wanna apologize for you know. Not coming sooner. And for leaving the motel unattended." Carley said.

"I'm glad you came when you did." Lee told her. "If you wouldn't have taken that shot at Andy, we might not have made it out of there."

"Were they really killing people and eating them?" Carley asked.

"Yea, and Clementine almost ate some." Lee said in a disgusted way.

"But?" Said Carley.

"I stopped her. I can't let anything happen to her. This fucked up world is just hiding unspeakable shit at every turn." Lee went on.

"Katjaa managed to get this before we left. She said it was with your stuff." Carley said handing Lee a camcorder.

"Oh yeah. I found it when I went looking for the people who shot Mark. You want it?" Said Lee.

"Why don't you keep it. Sometimes it helps to have something you can document your thoughts on." Carley said, Lee smiled and nodded his head.

Naje and Clementine were walking together. As always. "Hey Clementine. I told you we were gonna get outta that place. And safely too." Naje said nicely.

"Yea. I'm glad. But what a terrible experience.." Clem replied.

"You're right. But hey, look. We're gonna go through a lot of bad experiences. But as long as we go through them and survive, then we're gonna be just fine." Naje assured her.

"I'll try to remember that." Clem said smiling. Naje smiled back at her. Clementine walked up to Lee from behind.

"Lee. Are those bad people.. dead?" She asked him.

"We didn't kill them so I don't know. They might have gotten away from the walkers. Probably. But they won't be coming for us. For sure." Lee assured her.

Clementine sighed in relief. "That's good."

"Hey dad, what's that sound?" Duck said as he heard something.

Lee looked around the corner and saw an abandoned car. The lights were on and the passenger door was open. "Don't shoot! We're here to help!" Lee notified in case there was someone there. He starting crouching, slowly approaching the car. Kenny followed behind him shortly. Lee saw the keys in the ignition and turned them, but it didn't turn on. "Figures." Lee said.

"Oh crap." Kenny said in astonishment. "Baby, you gotta see this." He directed to Katjaa. "There's a shitload of food and supplies back here.

The rest of the group approached the car.

"This food could save all of us." Katjaa said.

"Not all of us..." Lilly corrected.

Kenny sighed. Duck looked up at him with concern.

"Look, we don't know if these people are dead or not." Ben said.

"If they come back, then we're just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives." Lilly added.

"This stuff isn't ours." Clementine pointed out.

"Dad, whose car is this?" Duck asked Kenny.

"Don't worry about that, Duck. It's ours now." Kenny answered,

"It's abandoned, Ducky. Don't worry." Katjaa said.

"What if it's not? What if it's not abandoned? What if it is someone's?" Clementine said. The group all did some thinking then.

"You're right. We shouldn't take this." Lee said.

"And we're not going to." Naje said, backing up Lee and Clementine.

"What? Did you have some meal back there the rest of us missed out on? We have to take this stuff." Kenny said.

"We don't want no part of this." Lee neglected.

"Well the rest of us are taking this stuff." Kenny said. He held his hand out to Lee would give him the keys. Lee tossed them to him. Kenny opened the trunk and the rest of the group started taking this stuff.

Clementine grabbed Naje's hand and Lee's hand. They looked down at her and smiled. Then they looked at each other and nodded. The three just looked at the group as they were taking the food and supplies. When everyone was done, they all headed back to the motel.


	18. Chapter 18

It had been 2 week after the group had left the farm and it was getting close to winter. Everyone was at the motel except for Lee and Kenny. They were out getting supplies from their secret hiding place where they put it. There was really nothing going on at the motel either. Carley and Naje were talking to one another. They were up the stairs

"It's been months now. Do you think Lee have told anyone about his past?" She asked him.

"I don't know. I don't think so." Naje answered.

"Hmm. Well when he comes back, I'll have to talk to him about something." Carley said.

"Yea? You wanna tell me what it is?" Naje replied.

"If he hasn't told anybody yet, then I think it may be time to do so." Carley said.

"Really? You don't think it's too late. Like you said, it's been months." Said Naje.

"As long as he's a member of the group, it'll never be too late. Don't you think people have a right to know? What about Clementine?"

"Yea I agree. And Clementine knows. At least I think she does. But what if he's not comfortable with it?" Naje said with concern.

"I know Lee's a good guy. And he does whatever he thinks is right. You should know that. You've known him longer than anyone else here, Naje." Carley went on.

"Well let's just see what he thinks of this; when he gets back." Naje said.

"That's exactly what we're gonna do." Carley said.

"Alright. Talk to you later, Car." Naje said as he began to walk off.

"Bye Naje." Carley replied.

Naje walked down the stairs and knocked on Lilly's door. She opened the door to let him in. She sat on the bed and said nothing. He came in and sat in a chair that was next to the door across from her.

"Hey Lil. You doing okay?" Naje asked.

"Just hanging in there. How about you?" She said back.

"Oh. Same." Naje said.

"Mhm." Replied Lilly.

"Well I just wanted to check on you since you haven't really been talking to anyone ever since we left that farm. You've been pretty distant from everyone. You're still a member of the group." Naje told her.

"I just needed some well deserved alone time. It's not that I hate anyone here because I don't. I just didn't wanna speak to anyone. It's actually been a good time for me." Lilly said.

"Well you can't be like this forever. We're worried about you. I'm worried about you." Said Naje.

"I appreciate it, Naje. I really do. But if anyone cared, they would've actually checked on me instead of allowing me to be by myself for the past two weeks. Even though I enjoyed it. You're actually the second person to talk to me. Lee spoke to me too." Lilly said.

"Well we're just worried about you. You should stop being so distant and maybe try talking to us. But only if you're ready." Naje told her.

"I might. No promises though. Thanks Naje." Lilly said to him.

"No problem Lilly. I'll let you be to yourself since you enjoyed it so much." He said, chuckling a little. "I'll talk yo you later. Hopefully." He added. She nodded her head and he left the room and closed the door.

He walked past Ben, who was on watch on top of the RV. Naje gave him a thumbs up and a little smile. Ben returned them both back to him. Naje kept walking and went to Clementine. She was sitting on the ground next to a wooden pallet. She was smiling as he came.

"Hey Clem." Naje greeted.

"Hey there Naje." She greeted back. "Thanks again for finding these stickers and giving them to me. They're pretty."

"No problem sweetheart." He said nicely. "Whatcha doin?"

"Just drawing a picture. I'm almost done." She said to him.

"Oh yea? Mind if I see what it is?"He asked.

"Mhm!" Clementine said, holding up the piece of paper with the drawing on it. It was a drawing of her and Naje holding hands with a few hearts around it, She drew them in stick figures. Naje could do nothing but just smile.

"Do you like it?" Clem asked him.

"I love it, Clem! It's very nice." Naje said.

"Do you want me to make you one too?" Clementine asked again.

"Sure honey. I'd love one." He said, smiling.

"Okay! I'll get right to it." Clem happily said.

Naje looked over at the entrance as it was opening up. It was Lee and Kenny with the bag of supplies. "Hey Clem." Naje said, pointing to Lee. That made her look over at him. She ran to him.

"You're back! Naje found some stickers and gave them to me and I put them on my walkie talkie." Clementine held her walkie talkie out to show Lee the stickers.

"Hey sweet pea. That's neat. I'll talk to you in a bit." He told her. She went back to Naje. Lee looked at Naje and waved at him. Naje waved back. Kenny and Lee made their way to Lilly's room to show her the supplies they got while they were gone. She eventually opened it.

"Looks like we got the kid on watch again." Kenny said, looking up at Ben on top of the RV.

"What'd you get?" Lilly asked them.

"Might as well leave a sign out saying "The men are gone. Come and rape our women and children"." Kenny joked. Lilly and Lee exchanged guns giving the other one;s back. Lee had a handgun, which he checked to see how many bullets he had in it. Lilly had the rifle.

"Ha." Lilly sarcastically laughed. She took her rifle and went to go place it on the dresser.

"So what'd you get?" Lilly asked as she came back to the two men.

"A lot of stuff." Lee answered. Kenny handed her the bag with the supplies in it. The bag actually belonged to Clementine. She found it when they got to the motor inn and she made it hers. Lilly went to the bed and emptied the stuff out.

"We're FINE by the way..." Kenny said to her, trying to get Lilly to acknowledge their appearance.

"Nice work. This'll keep us going. If we carry on like this, we'll make it through the winter here." Lily went on.

"The winter?! We'll freeze our asses off here!" Kenny said.

"Because piling into an RV with you, after what you did to my dad, is so appealing." Lilly directed to Kenny.

"We have to go eventually, Lilly." Lee told her.

"I know, Lee.." Lilly said. Afterwards, the rest of the group, except the kids, came over to see what the commotion was.

"At it again, are we?" Carley said.

"Can it, Carley." Kenny said to her.

"What are you guys arguing about now?" Naje said.

"Stop bossing people around." Said Lilly to Kenny.

"I'm sorry. But someone needs to make executive decisions for the group though. And I don't think you're capable of doing that anymore." Kenny replied.

"We're strongest together. We have been since day one when we became a group. And we'll continue to be strong. We just have to keep the group together." Lee said. Clementine heard that last sentence he said from a distance.

"What about the food situation? What about protection? What about when this place falls? We can't stay here. Somebody's gotta be thinkin' about this shit." Kenny went on.

"IT'S NOT GONNA BE EASIER OUT ON THE ROAD!" Lilly yelled.

"How would you know?" Kenny responded.

"WHAT I KNOW? I know you're not above murder! I know someone's been STEALING our supplies. That's right. STEALING! And I know the list of people I can trust gets smaller everyday!" Lilly went off. "Now everybody get out!" Lilly demanded. Everyone respectively left the room and close the door half shut. Everyone just looked at each other for a little while.

"Well she's right about one thing. None of this is getting easier." Kenny said as he walked off. Everyone else then went their separate directions. Lee and Carley stayed together though.

"Things are coming to a head." Carley said to Lee.

"You could say that again." Lee agreed.

"Well I think you did good today. And I find myself thinking that most days." Carley praised Lee.

"Thanks, Carley." Lee said with a smile.

"It's probably worth following up with Lilly about what she was saying about the missing supplies." Carley mentioned. "With her all wounded up the way she is, I don't want her paranoid." She added.

"No question." Said Lee.

"And I'd like to talk to you when you've got a minute." Carley told Lee. Lee nodded his head. Carley made her way up the staircase.

Lee shortly went to Clementine, who was still drawing stuff from the wooden pallet.

"Hey, Clementine." Greeted Lee as he squatted down.

"Hey, Lee." She replied.

"What'cha doin here?" He asked.

"Just drawing a picture for Naje." She said.

"Oh really? Can I see?" Lee asked kindly. Clementine showed him the picture of what she already drew of her and Naje. Lee chuckled.

"That's a nice picture Clementine." Lee complemented her artwork.

"Thanks, Lee. I'm just making another copy of the exact same thing." Clementine said.

"Well what's this?" Lee asked her, pointing to another drawing she made.

"It's called a leaf rubbing. My teacher Miss Moore showed us how to do'em when we went to the Botanical Garden once." Clementine held up the drawing and the leaf she used. "See? It's the same.. Kinda." She giggled.

"Well that's also very nice." Lee intrigued about it.

"I'll make one for you too!" Clementine told him. "By the time I'm done with everything, I'll be able to say "My oh my, I sure have been busy today."."

Lee let out a laugh. "Well I'll let you get back to your work Clementine. And thank you."

"Okay, Lee. I'll let you know when I'm done." She said. Lee got up and squatted back down to ask Clementine something else.

"Do you like it here?" Lee asked her.

"I don't LIKE it here." Clementine said as if she wasn't sure.

"Do you wanna leave?" Lee asked.

"Where would we go?" Clem asked back.

"Somewhere else."Lee answered.

"I don't know. Maybe if I knew where." Said Clem.

"Yeah, that'd be a good thing to know." Lee agreed. "Well alright. I'll talk to you later Clem."

"Okay." She said.

Lee then remembered that Carley wanted to talk to him, so he went to her. When he approached her, she had her arms rested on the rail with her hands on her cheeks. She took a quick glance at Lee.

"Talk to Lilly yet?" Carley asked.

"No, not yet. But I will." Lee said.

"The reason I wanted to talk is that I've been thinking a lot. About you." She said.

"I think about you too." Lee responded. Carley smiled a little.

"Our group is small." She said.

"You're small." Lee joked.

"...You're a convicted killer.." Carley burst out.

"Carley, Jesus..." Lee said.

"Me and Naje were talking about it earlier while you and Kenny were out. He and I are the only people that know and I think everyone else should know too." Carley added. "Not because they deserve to know and not because you're a bad man. I think the opposite of those two things." Carley also added. "People need to know because we're hanging by a thread and I can't see Lilly talking about you thinking it's the next thing she's gonna say. You don't have to tell anyone, but think of the ones you can trust and take this opportunity while you have it." She finished.

Lee took a little while and thought about it and finally replied. "You're probably right."

"Of course I'm probably right. People might be pissed. And telling them might cause trouble, but it'll be a far cry from what'll happen if they don't hear it from you." Carley pointed out.

"Yeah.." Lee short replied.

"So you'll do it then?" Carley asked.

"I'll let people know. You're totally right." Lee agreed.

"What happened to "probably" right?" Carley joked and giggled. "But good. I think it's for the best.

Carley walked up closer to Lee and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't call me small." She whispered in his ear. Lee smiled at her. He then looked down at everyone from a bird's view angle. He wasn't sure what kinda reaction he was gonna get from what he was gonna tell people, but here goes nothing.


	19. Chapter 19

Lee went back down the stairs and the first person he went to is Clementine.

"Hey Clem, I need to talk to you about something." Lee said.

"Okey dokey. And I'm done with your picture." Clem said, giving Lee the leaf rubbing. Lee gladly took it. He folded it and placed it in one of his pants pocket.

"Thanks Clementine." Lee nicely said. "But the day you and I met, I was in a car accident."

"I remember. You leg was bleeding.." Clem mentioned.

"The car I was in was a police car, and I was on my way to prison for committing a crime." Lee informed her. Clem opened her eyes slightly wide open.

"Oh... so that's the trouble you were talking about back in the drugstore?" She asked.

"Yeah. I just wanted to tell you now so that you wouldn't hear it any other way." Lee said.

"Okay.." Clem said.

"Do you have anything to say?" Lee asked her.

"I don't think so." Clementine responded.

"Okay, Clem. You can go on back to your things now." Lee said. Clementine nodded.

The next ones Lee went to were Kenny and Katjaa. The first one he wanted to tell was Kenny. Lee pulled Kenny aside to tell him man-to-man.

"Kenny, I need to talk to you." Lee said.

"Yeah? About what?" Kenny replied.

"It's serious, man." Lee said.

"What do the she-devil do now?" Kenny said, referring Lilly as the "she-devil."

"Shut up, man." Said Lee. "Just wanted to say.. I was on my way to prison three months ago."

"No shit?" Said Kenny.

"No shit." Lee responded. It took a while for Kenny to sink in what Lee just said.

"It wasn't for touching kids, was it?" Kenny asked.

"Really man?" Lee said in an annoyed tone.

"What? I gotta ask." Said Kenny.

"No. It was for killing a guy in a fight." Lee said to him.

"Damn. Musta' been a real piece of shit if you had to go off and kill him." Kenny said.

"So we're straight then?" Lee asked.

"Lee, look at everything this mess has got us doin' now. I'm sorry you went through whatever you went through. Yeah, we're "straight." Kenny told him.

"Okay, good. And could you also bring Katjaa over here. I wanna tell her too." Lee said. Kenny went back to sit on the couch with Katjaa. He eventually told her that Lee wanted to talk to her, so she got up and went to him.

"Lee? You needed to speak to me?" Katjaa asked.

"Yeah. I did." Lee replied.

"Okay. What is it then?" Said Katjaa.

"I was, uhh.. on my was my way to prison before "all this" happened." Lee said.

"Jesus.. How much trouble could a teacher get into?" Kenny said in shock.

"He and my wife-" Lee said until he got cut off by Katjaa.

"Nevermind. That's enough. You don't have to say anymore." Katjaa said. "I see. Thanks for telling me."

"Sure thing." Lee replied.

"Now could you tell me something else?" Katjaa asked.

"What is it?" Lee said.

"What happened to Larry at the dairy?" Asked Katjaa.

"Well.. he had a heart attack and Kenny wanted to prevent him from turning.." Lee answered.

"What did he do..?" Katjaa asked, a bit worried.

"He smashed his head in.." Lee muttered.

Katjaa looked saddened and scared. But mostly, she was shocked. She had her hand covering her mouth as she turned away.

"My.. This world is changing everyone.." Katjaa said as she went to go sit back down. Lee just stood there for a while, looking down with his eyes closed and with a sad look on his face. He felt the same way Katjaa was feeling. Shortly, he shook himself up. The next person he was gonna go to was Ben.

As he was going to Ben, Naje came around the corner of the RV.

"Hey, Naje." Lee greeted him.

"Oh hey there, Lee." Naje greeted back.

"Were you on watch too?" Lee asked.

"Nah I was just up there talking to Ben, trying to get to know him since we never really speak and he is a member of the group. And also he's the closet person to my age." Naje went on.

"You're like 10 years older than he is." Lee chuckled.

"And you and I are 13 years apart." Naje said, also chuckling. "And for the record, me and Ben are 8 years apart." Naje added.

"Well excuuuuuse me." Lee jokingly said.

"What are you up to?" Naje asked him.

"I was just about to tell Ben something I've been telling everyone else so far. I don't need to tell you because you already know. You and Carley." Lee said.

"Say no more. I know what you're talkin' about. Me and Carley were talking about that earlier." Naje said. "Who all have you told so far?"

"Clem, Ken, Kat, and Car." Lee answered.

"I like how you short named everyone." Naje laughed.

"You know who I mean though." Lee said as he smiled, shaking his head. "I'm gonna tell Ben now, then I'm gonna tell Lilly."

"Honestly, I would be surprised if Lilly already knows. You know, since her dad did." Naje pointed out.

"That could be possible. But I wanna tell her anyways. Just in case." Lee said.

"Yeah. Just to make sure. Alright Lee. You go and handle your business." Naje said.

"Okay man, see you later. And make sure to check with Clementine. Your "girlfriend." She has something for you." Lee mentioned.

"Is it a drawing? Yea I already know." Naje said.

"She made a leaf rubbing for me." Lee also mentioned.

"That girl is seriously one of the best kids I've ever known. And she's so mature for her age." Naje informed.

"Yeah, she really is. And thank you, again. For looking out for her. I'm really glad you and her have a good relationship."

"No sweat, Lee. It's my pleasure." Naje said with a smile.

"Alright, man. I need to handle something. I'll see you later. Forreal this time." Lee told him.

"You got it." Naje replied. He then went to Clementine. Lee watched him as he went to her. He watched as he squatted down and Clementine were showing her the pictures. They both had smiles on their faces while they were talking. That put a smile on Lee's face. He then turned his attention back to Ben to tell him about his past.

"Wow Clem. Thanks." Naje said, admiring the drawing.

"You're welcome. I'm just glad you like it." Clementine replied. "Hey Naje, did you.. know about Lee? About what he did before?"

"Yea I did." Naje answered. "Why?"

"I was just wondering." Clem said.

"The way you felt about him hasn't changed, has it?" Naje asked her.

"No, not at all." Clem said.

"Good. He's still an awesome guy." Naje said.

"Yes. Agreed." Clem said with a smile.

After Lee told Ben about him going to prison, Lee went to Lilly. He opened the door up. There she was. On the bed with her elbows down on her legs with her hands on her face, propping her head up. Lee sat down in the same chair Naje sat in before. The one in front of her and next to the door.

She looked up. "I'm sorry." She bursted out.

"About what?" Lee asked.

"About earlier. I just lost my shit." Lilly answered.

"It's okay. You don't have to be." Lee assured her.

"Now you're probably here to give me shit. I don't blame you." Lee said.

"No, I'm not here to do that. I'm here to tell you something important." Lee corrected her.

"What is it?" Lee said.

"I was headed to prison a few months ago for committing a crime.." Lee said.

"Aw shit. Dad did say there was something up with you." Lilly said.

"So you knew already?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. Basically I did." Lilly said.

"Do you have anything you might wanna say?" Lee asked her.

"No.. I just feel bad. My dad treated you like shit because of it, and yet you still tried to save his life. That shows the type of character you are. And I mean that in a good way. Thank you, Lee." Lilly said.

"No, thank you, Lilly." Lee said. Lee was about to get up to walk, that's when he was stopped by Lilly.

"Wait Lee. I need your help." Lilly said. Lee sat back down.

"There's a traitor. Somebody. One of us out there. He or she or they have been taking things." Lee mentioned.

"For real? Who? What do you got?" Lee said.

"The count's off and it's the good stuff. Antibiotics, oxy. Fuck. Anything with opium in it." Lilly informed.

"I see the count and it's fine." Lee assured her.

"I keep my own. That one's getting messed with." Lilly told him. "I'm a fucking mess right now, but I'm not stupid. I know what'll happen it I start a witch hunt."

"So you want me to start one?" Lee asked.

"I want you to poke around." Lilly replied. Lee shook his head, but he decided to do it.

"What's there to go on?" Lee asked. Lilly pulled something from under her bed. It was a broken flashlight. She handed it to Lee.

"I found this tossed into the garbage. We don't toss out equipment. We fix it. You'd only try to get rid of a flashlight if you were using it when you shouldn't." Lilly said.

"Okay. I'll poke around." Lee agreed.

"Thank you. Let me know if you solved anything out." Lilly said. Lee nodded his head and left out the room. He was looking at the flashlight

"A mystery!" Duck said from behind Lee.

"Jesus Duck." Lee said.

"I heard you and Lilly talking." Duck told him.

"You need to un-hear all of that." Lee said as he started to walk away. Duck was following up behind Lee.

"Can I help?" Duck volunteered. Lee stopped walking and turned around back to Duck.

"What did I just say?!" Lee said in an agitated tone.

"You're the greatest detective and I can be Dick Grayson! Your ward!" Duck happily said. Lee just looked at him.

"That's Robin." Duck added.

"I know who it is." Lee informed him. He crossed his arms. "Okay, fine. You're Robin." Lee said.

"Yes!" Duck said as he put his hands on his sides like a superhero. "What do I do?"

"I don't know. Go look around. Let me know if you find anything weird." Lee told him.

"I'm on the case!" Duck said as he started running. Lee looked at him as he ran and shook his head. He then looked at the flashlight again. He and Duck was about to start solving the mystery.


	20. Chapter 20

Just like the last time, Clementine was the first person Lee went to to ask her if she knew anything about the broke flashlight. Naje was with her this time, so he decided to ask them both.

"Hey you love birds." Lee said with a grin.

"Hey, Lee." Clem greeted him.

"Did one of you accidentally break this flashlight?" Lee asked, holding up the flashlight.

"Aw man. So much for light when it gets dark." Naje said. "But no, I didn't."

"Clem?" Lee asked.

"No. Did Duck say I did?" Clementine responded.

"No. Did Duck break the flashlight?" He asked again.

"I don't think so. He's just always blaming me for stuff." Clem said.

"Like what?" Lee said.

"Putting a bug on his pillow." Clementine replied.

"Did you do that?" Lee asked.

"...Yes." Clem said with a smirk. Lee and Naje let out a laugh. Lee went to Katjaa and Kenny to ask them about it.

"Did you guys know anything about this broken flashlight?" He asked them.

"Fuck.. We don't got many of those." Said Kenny.

"Yeah, it's a problem. The glass and the bulb are all busted out." Lee informed them.

I saw some broken glass over by the ice machine. I meant to clean it up before the kids hurt themselves on it. I forgot though." Katjaa pointed out.

Lee went over to the ice machine where the broken pieces of glass were. He squatted down and picked up one of the pieces. He held it inside one of the broken ends of the flashlight and it was a perfect match. He then looked to the side of the wall and saw an X written in pink chalk. He ran his fingers through one of the lines of the X.

"Pink. Hmm." Duck said as he came outta nowhere.

"Duck!" Lee groaned.

"A clue!" Said an excited Duck.

"Maybe." Lee said.

"What do you think it is?" Duck asked him.

"I don't think it's anything." Lee said

"Maybe it's a sign." Duck replied.

"It could be. It's pink chalk, which is weird." Lee said.

"Okay, back to investigating!" Duck said as he ran off again. Lee went back to Clementine and Naje to ask them if they had any chalk.

"Hey, guys." Lee greeted them.

"Hey, Lee." Clementine replied.

"Do one of you have any pink chalk?" Lee asked.

"Do you think I have pink chalk?" Naje joked.

"No." Lee laughed. "Do you, Clementine?"

"No. It's gone somewhere." Clementine answered.

"Hmm.." Lee muttered.

"Do you want blue?" Clementine asked.

"No, no, it's okay." Lee told her.

"Psst, Lee." Duck said from a short distance. Lee came over to him.

"I found something." Duck said as he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a piece of pink chalk. Lee squatted down.

"What is it?" Lee asked.

"I found this piece of chalk and a scuff of it over by the gate." Duck said.

"Really?" Lee replied.

"Totally! I was combing the scene for clues and-" Duck went on until he was cut off by Lee.

"Yea Duck. I got it. Good job." Lee said as he walked over to the gate. Duck followed him. Duck held his hand up, hoping Lee would give him a hgh-five. Lee gave him a high-five.

"Yeah!" Duck happily said.

"You didn't break a flashlight, did you Duck?" Lee asked.

"No. Mom and Dad won't let me touch any of their stuff. Lilly neither. Or Naje, actually. Adults.." Duck said.

"Yeah. It's probably for the best." Lee pointed out. Lee inspected the scuff of chalk. It started from under one of the short legs of the dumpster. Lee slightly pushed the dumpster open and the scuff left a trail.

"Somebody was over here too." Lee pointed out.

"See? I did good, huh." Duck praised himself.

"Yea Duck. You did good." Lee also praised him. Lee pushed the rest of the dumpster open enough for him to walk through it. "I'm gonna go out and look around. You stay here this time. Seriously." Lee ordered.

"Okay." Duck nonchalantly said.

Lee walked out of the gate and started looking around outside of it. He around a grate and squatted down in front of it. He removed it and there was a bag in it. He grabbed the bag and looked inside of it. Inside were a few medicine bottles in it. "Son of a bitch..." Lee uttered to himself.

Lee went to Lilly's room to tell her about what he found. "You haven't come up with anything, have you?" Lilly asked him.

"I came up with this." Lee said as he showed her the bag. She looked inside.

"It's got a bunch of meds in it. It was in a grate on the outside wall and there's a sign on the other one." Lilly informed her.

"Holy fuck." Lilly groaned.

"Yeah." Lee short replied.

"Okay. We line everybody up. Everybody." Lilly ordered. Lee took a seat in a chair.

"Somebody is killing us. Stealing from that supply is the same as slipping into your room at night and slitting your throat while you sleep. You die." Lilly went on. "What is the difference? What if Clementine gets sick and we don't have what we need? Lilly added.

Lilly looked past Lee, looking through the crack of the curtains. "What the hell?!" She shouted. Outside were bandits. They had on masks, bandanas, shades, anything to hide certain parts of their faces. They had the group members on their knees with guns pointed to their heads from behind.

"YOU DON'T FUCKING STEAL FROM US!" Shouted a voice from outside.

"Who the fuck is that!" Lee panicked.

"Oh shit! They've got our people out there!" Lilly said. She rushed to get her rifle and started heading out of the window.

"Lilly! What the hell are you-" Lee began.

"Stall them!" Lilly demanded.

"What?!" Lee said in a confused way.

"Just distract them. Do whatever it takes to stop him from pulling the trigger." Lilly ordered as she headed out the window.

"Shit.." Lee said. Lee slowly started to walk outside.

"Enough of this! Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!" One of the bandits demanded.

"I'm on it." Drew, apparently, said. The lead bandit then noticed Lee and pointed the gun at him.

"Hold it asshole." The bandit said.

"Take it easy." Lee said, trying to calm things down. "We have more supplies. We can keep the deal going." Lee informed them.

"Too late shithead! We ain't givin' second chances!" The bandit said.

"It was a mix up. We'll make it worth your while." Lee said.

"I'm listening." Said the bandit.

"We can split the supplies. Spread'em around." Lee said.

"Or we could just kill you and take it all." Said the lead bandit.

"And what about when they run out? When you don't have us out there collecting them for you?" Lee stated. The lead bandit thought about it and lowered his gun down.

"Well, I suppose we oughta hash out some terms then." The bandit said.

"I don't like no hash!" Said the bandit next to him.

"Man shut up or I'll-" The bandit said, but those were his last words because he was headshot by Lilly with her rifle from the corner of the motel at the second story staircase. He fell down to his instant death.

"Christ!" Screamed one of the random bandits. The other bandits were trying to see where the shot was coming from. Naje, Clementine, Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck made a run for it. Once the other bandits' guards were lowered, Carley picked up the gun of the dead bandit and shot two others in the head. The gun ran out of bullets on the third bandit, who was frozen in fear. Carley made a run for it as well. When the last bandit attempting to escape by going over the fence, Lee shot him right in the butt. He eventually went over it and blow a whistle. The whistle brung out more of the bandits from the woods.

The bandits began to start pushing through the dumpsters, which were the entrances, to get in and also used it for defense. Lee went to hide behind the RV for cover.

"Get back there! Smoke'em out!" Yelled a random bandit. Ben tried to make a run for the RV but was stopped in his tracks by one of the bandits firing rifle. The shot hit the window of one of the hotel rooms. Ben fell and quickly right back to were he was taking cover at before he was hit.

"We gotta get outta here!" Kenny shouted to Lee as he came out of his room to grab his own rifle.

"No shit!" Lee said.

"Get those bastards! Cover our people and get them to the RV!" Kenny ordered. He gave Lee the rifle and went inside the RV to get it started up.

Lee peaked around the corner and saw one of the bandits aiming at Ben and Carley,who were taking cover at the same spot. Lee headshot the bandit. He saw another bandit and also headshot him.

"Now! Get over here! Hurry!" Lee ordered them. Ben and Carley made a run for the RV. Carley went in.

"Man, you saved our asses!" Ben pointed out. He then went inside right after Carley.

Then there were more bandits pushing the dumpsters to get inside the motel.

"Help!" Screamed Katjaa. Her, Clementine, Naje, and Duck were hiding behind a few crates and boards. Katjaa was softly holding Duck by his head. Clementine was peaking her head up trying to see where the bandits and then she put her head down. Naje then held her around her shoulder and she held him back by his waist. She was resting her head on his chest.

Lee heard Katjaa's cream and went to her and the others aid. "Katjaa! Hang on!" Lee shouted.

After many gunshots, walkers began to get involved in the invasion. One walker grabbed a specific bandit from behind by head head and pulled him down and started biting into his neck. The bandit of course screamed in pain.

Lee crouched down and peaked around the corner of the RV. He headshot one of the bandits, and then another. He didn't notice a bandit sneaking around until the last second and shot him right before he could get to the specific group members. The coast was then clear.

"Katjaa! Hurry! Come on!" Lee shouted. Clementine ran to Lee and hugged him. He hugged her back of course.

"Leeee!" Clementine cried. Naje then ran after Clementine did.

"Clem! Get into the RV! It's gonna be okay! Go!" Lee said. Clementine went inside the RV.

"Oh man, thanks Lee!" Naje said.

"Don't mention it, man." Lee replied. Naje then went inside the RV. Katjaa and Duck tried to make their way to the RV but they were tripped up by a walker from behind. When Katjaa fell, she hit head head on the edge of a knocked down vending machine, which opened a gash on her forehead. Katjaa was pushing keeping the walker from biting her while protecting Duck at the same time. Lee then went and shot the walker in the head and killed it.

Kenny went outside to check on his family. He helped them up and helped them get inside the RV. Lilly was still in the same spot she shot the first bandit. She was just shooting and hoping she hit either a bandit or a walker.

"Lilly! Get in the RV!" Lee demanded her.

"Screw'er! Let'er stay!" Kenny said. Kenny went inside and started to crank up the RV. Carley looked outside and saw walkers approaching the motel, getting closer.

"Shit!" She shouted. She went outside and started shooting the walker. Lee was doing the same.

After Kenny finally and successfully turned on the RV, Carley went inside. Lee started to go in but then he looked up at Lilly.

"Lilly! Last chance! Get down here!" Lee said to her as he got inside the RV. Lilly looked around at the motel and saw all the bandits and walkers coming in. "Shit!" She said. She rushed down the stairs and barely was able to leap into the RV as Kenny started to drive off. On the way out, he ran over a few walkers as he busted through the entrances and drove himself and everyone else off to safety.


	21. Chapter 21

Katjaa was sitting in the passenger holding Duck, everyone else was in the back. Naje and Clementine was sitting on one side and Carley and Ben were siting on the other. Lilly and Lee were standing up, holding onto something to keep them up in case they hit a bump in the road or something. Kenny was the one driving of course.

"KAT! Jesus, are you okay?!" Kenny said worriedly.

"I'm fine! I'm fine!" Katjaa assured him.

"Oh shit oh shit oh sh-" Ben said as he couldn't believe everything that just happened. He was holding his head down with his hands on his head. "I'm sorry." He also said.

"Everything's fine, Ben." Carley told him.

"Everything's not fine." Lilly corrected her. "We need to figure out how this happened. We just lost everything.."

"Well we're lucky as shit to have this RV!" Kenny stated.

"And nobody died." Carley mentioned.

"Or got left behind." Naje added.

"Kat's head is split open!" Kenny pointed out.

"I'm fine!" Katjaa assured him again.

"Somebody in here caused this." Lilly said.

"Settle down back there. The bandits have had our number for weeks!" Kenny mentioned.

"This is different." Lilly said. "Somebody was working with them. Whoever it was was slipping them our meds. They didn't get their last package so they attacked us."

"Calm down back there! That's nuts!" Kenny said.

"Lee found a bag hidden outside the wall." Lilly mentioned.

"It's true." Lee approved.

"So, Carley, is there something you want to say?" Lilly asked her.

"Please." Carley replied. Basically saying that it wasn't her.

"We have to get it out of you then?" Lilly said.

"Back off." Carley warned her.

"You're in no position to make demands." Lilly said.

"Whoa, whoa whoa you're just pointing fingers!"

"Carley's trustworthy. It couldn't have been her." Lee said, backing Carley up.

"Thank you, Lee." Carley said to him.

"She can fight her own battles. Unless there's something going on here that implicates you both." Lilly said to them.

"Don't be ridiculous." Carley said.

"Like, look, maybe we should.. I don't know. Vote or something.." Ben said.

"Vote? What?!" Lilly said.

"Look. Carley's a standout gal and maybe this was just a mistake." Ben said.

"We need to look at the facts! Let's calm down, we'll eat and we'll deal with it." Said Carley.

"Let's just let it go. People make mistakes and yeah, this is a fucking doozy, but it's not worth it, Lilly." Lee said, trying to calm things down.

"Then what do we NOT forgive? Honestly, tell me. Kenny can kill my dad, Carley can steal from us? Where's the line?" Lilly went on.

"Nobody was stealing ANYTHING!" Ben tried to assure her.

"Was it both of you?" Lilly asked deviously. Directing to Carley and Ben.

"What?!" Ben said.

"I've seen you two together. WAS IT BOTH OF YOU?!" Lilly shouted.

"Look, just let me out. I didn't do it, but I don't like this. I don't like where it's headed." Ben said fearfully.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you had nothing to do with it." Lee said as she gave a fierce eye contact to Ben.

"Lilly, lay off of him." Carley said.

"I-." Ben said, but couldn't finish after what happened next. Kenny accidentally ran into a figure outside. It was most likely a walker.

"Shit!" Kenny shouted.

"What happened?!" Naje asked.

"What's going on up there?" Lilly also asked.

"I hit something. We gotta stop." Kenny told everyone.

"Alright. Well, we can deal with this now then." Lilly said.

Kenny pulled over to the side of the road and stopped.

"Kenny, is it safe?" Lee asked.

"Should be." Kenny replied.

"Everybody out." Lilly demanded.

"Lilly.." Lee said.

"Out." Lilly repeated.

Lilly opened the door and let herself out. Lee, Carley, and Ben also left out. Naje and Clementine stood at the door. Kenny got out using his own driver's door. Lilly looked under the RV and saw a walker was trapped under it.

"Kenny, the RV has some surface damage, but there's a walker trapped underneath." Lilly notified him. Kenny then went and looked for himself.

"Goddammit. Everyone keep your eyes peeled." He told them.

"You know what, we shouldn't just kick you out, we should hear what everybody thinks." Lilly directed to Ben and Carley.

"I think you should just chill out." Ben suggested.

"I'm not gonna take this. You can push Ben around but you can't push me around." Carley said.

"I'm really sorry you feel this way." Lilly said but wasn't really sorry. "I'm starting to think it was both of you." Lilly finished.

"I'm not doing this, Lilly!" Lee stated.

"Come on Lee, you're the one who found some of the missing supplies." Lilly reminded him.

"Fuck all that. This is nuts! We're out here on the side of the road! At night, might I add!" Lee implied.

"Let's just all get back onto the RV and wait for that walker underneath to be taken care of." Naje said.

"We will once this is all sorted out. But some of us WON'T be getting back on." Lilly said to him.

"Kenny, what do you think?" Lilly asked.

"I don't know! Fuck! Just stop, would ya?!" Kenny responded.

"Well your vote counts for you and Katjaa." Lilly said.

"We don't need all these votes!' Ben stated.

"Ben, you're the one who just said "maybe we should vote or something" and now you're backin' out of it?!" Naje said.

"Exactly!" Lilly agreed.

"I'm just scared, man! What do I have to do for you to trust me? I'll do anything!" Ben said. "I'll-I'll do watches for a month!" Ben volunteered.

"Psh! Like hell you will." Lilly denied.

"He's broken, Lilly." Lee pointed out.

"I see. Do we need anymore evidence than this?" Lilly replied.

"Fuck evidence! Stop treating him like this." Carley said.

"Shut up, Carley! Ugh, I've heard enough out of you." Lilly said. "Kenny! What's it gonna be?" Lilly asked him again.

"Just give me a damn minute!" Kenny replied.

"Ben, you have until that walker is dealt with to tell me it was her and not you." Lilly demanded.

"Stop this! You're torturing him!" Carley said.

"Lilly, just lay off." Lee calmly said.

"I can't, Lee. You know I can't." Lilly sad.

"Thank you, Lee!" Said Carley.

Kenny safely pulled the zombie from under the RV. It had no legs so he didn't have to worry about it too much. "There, I got it." Kenny said.

"Yes!" Naje cheerfully said. "Now let's all get back in the RV."

"That's not happening." Lilly said.

"Please, let's just get back in the RV." Ben agreed with Naje.

"I said, that's NOT happening!" Lilly yelled.

"You think you're some tough bitch, don't you? Like nothing can hurt you, but you're just a scared little girl. Get the fuck over it. Take a page from Lee's book and try helping someone for once." Carley went off on Lilly. Lilly gave her a harsh stare.

Kenny stomped the walker's head in, killing it. Everyone turned and looked. He then made his way to the rest of the group to talk about the situation. "Now, what the fuck's the problem?" He asked them.

Then suddenly a gunshot went off. The gunshot was caused by Lilly, who suddenly shot Carley in the face as she turned her head back around. Carley fell and instantly died. Lilly was still pointing her gun, but not at anyone in specific. Lee grabbed Lilly and slammed her into the RV. He also grabbed her by wrist of the hand she was holding the gun in.

"DROP IT." Lee demanded her. Lilly let go of the gun and it fell to the ground. Everyone was standing their in utter shock.

"Holy fuck..." Kenny said.

"KENNY, what's happening?!" Katjaa cried.

"Keep Duck away from the windows! Jesus Christ!" Kenny said. Kenny walked over Carley's body to get to Lilly and Lee. Naje covered Clementine's eyes so she didn't have to look at Carley.

"Get it! We're leaving this crazy bitch!" Kenny ordered.

"She couldn't be trusted, Lee. I swear, please." Lilly bargained. He released his grip off of Lilly.

"You're not coming with us." Lee told her.

"I'll die out here." Lilly said.

"I don't care." Said Lee.

"You're a murdered, Lilly! We can't have you with us." Kenny stated.

"I'm a murderer? You've had Lee with you this whole time." Lilly mentioned.

"I don't care about what he did before." Kenny said.

"You knew?" Lily said.

"Yeah. He told me. I don't give a shit." Kenny replied. "If you stay, how long would it be until you get me?"

"I was trying to protect all of us.. I don't have anything left." Lilly sadly said.

"Get in guys. Let's go." Kenny said as he got onto the RV. Naje and Clementine went to go take their seats. Ben looked at Lilly, then got inside. Lee also took a last look at Lilly and then got onto the RV, leaving her outside on her own. Kenny started up the RV and drove off. Lee looked at Lilly from the back window as they were riding off. Lilly looked behind her and saw a walker coming up behind her. She began to run away, but not after the RV.

"Lee? A word, please?" Katjaa softly said.

Lee made his way over to Katjaa but stopped by Naje and Clementine to ask them if they were okay. "You guys okay?" Lee asked them.

"Katjaa needs you for something." Clementine said. Lee nodded and made his way to Katjaa.

"What's up?" Lee asked. "If Duck feeling alright?" Katjaa and Kenny looed at each other and then looked at Lee. Katjaa lifted up Duck's shirt a bit and showed Lee Duck's bite on his belly.

"What the fuck..." Lee said softly.

"It happened during the raid." Kenny informed him.

"What's the plan? We've never had a bite victim in the group before." Lee asked them.

"I'm gonna keep an eye on him and see what I can do, from a medical perspective." Katjaa answered.

"We keep the same plan unless something changes. East." Kenny added.

"Guys.." Lee said.

"What else is there to do? We thought that you should know." Katjaa replied.

Kenny looked back at Lee. "Important to stay honest with each other." Kenny said to him and turned back around.

"Anyway, if you could tell Clementine and Naje, we'd appreciate it." Kajaa told him.

Lee looked back and looked at Naje and Clem. Clem was resting her head on Naje's shoulder. He went over to them. "Guys. I need to tell you something.." He said. Clementine looked at Naje and he nodded. Clementine took her head off his shoulder. She then rested her head on Lee's chest when he sat down. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder. He looked up into the ceiling and shook his head. He didn't know how they'd react.

"Duck is bitten." Lee came out with it.

Clementine looked up at him. "Huh?" She said softly. Naje was just crossing his arms while looking down, sinking in what Lee just said into his head. "Really?" Naje asked.

"Yeah... He got bit by a walker trying to escape the motel." Lee informed.

"I.. don't feel good." Clementine said. "And what about Carley?" Clem asked about her.

"Gone.. but won't come back." Lee replied.

"Because she was shot in the head?" Clementine said.

"Yeah, that's right. It's horrible." Lee said.

"Yeah, it is." Clementine agreed. Naje and Lee gave each other a sadden look and looked away.

"I'm glad I have you two." Lee said to them. That put a smile on their faces.

"Me, too." Clementine said.

"I can say the same." Naje said.

"I heard you outside my treehouse that day and thought about dropping a hammer on your head." Clem stated to Lee. Naje chuckled a little bit.

"What? Why?" Lee nicely said.

"In case you were up to no good. Before you, there was this other guy. He was yelling and trying to get into my house. He wanted to take the TV and tried to break the glass door with a rock. Then some walkers came and scared him away." Clementine went on.

Lee made a confusing face then smiled. "The door was open." Lee told her.

"He was dumb." Clem said. Naje, Clem, and Lee all chuckled.

After a few minutes, Naje and Clementine had fell asleep. Clem fell asleep into Lee's arms and Naje had literally fallen asleep. He was sitting up at first but they he laid down on the seat. Shortly afterwards, Clementine was making some weird noises. Lee looked down at her to see if she was alright. Clem looked up and she had turned into a walker. She was trying to attack Lee but he was holding her back.

"CLEM! FUCK! What in the hell happened? Get away from me!" Lee screamed.

Lee then woke up. And that part was only a dream. When he woke up, Clementine was still in his arms, still herself. She was asleep though. So was Naje, but he was still sitting up. It was also daytime. They were still on the road.

"We've got something up ahead." Kenny said. Lee gently placed Clementine's head in Naje's lap and he got up to see what the problem was.

"Dammit. Road's blocked." Kenny pointed out. He slowed down the RV and eventually stopped it. What was in there was a train. "Now we gotta deal with this."

Naje woke up and noticed Clementine's head on his lap. He leaned up a bit to see why they had stopped, he then saw the train like the others did, except Clementine, who was still asleep. He rubbed her head, trying to wake her up, which she did.

"Hmm?" Clementine hummed.

"We got a problem, Clem." He told her. She sat up and noticed the train for herself.

Lee, Kenny, Naje, and Ben went outside and took a look at what they had to deal with.

"Is there any way to get around it?" Ben asked.

"I don't think so." Naje said.

"Doesn't look like it. On foot, maybe. But we really can't afford to do that now." Kenny said.

"This seems like a safe area. All the brush will stop anything from creepin' up on us." Lee informed.

Clementine put her backpack on and walked out the RV. She then took a look a Kat and Duck, who had just got out the RV as well but by the passenger door. Duck was holding Katjaa by the waist. They held hand and went to take a seat on a tree stomp. Clementine followed them and also took a seat, but on a log. Kenny and Naje also went to take a seat on the log as well. It was Clementine, Naje, and Kenny on the log siding side by side in that order. Katjaa was on the tree stomp, still holding Duck.

"Why don't you and I go look around?" Ben said to Lee.

"Yeah, everyone should rest up. We could be here for a while." Lee stated. "Clem, stay close to Naje, Kenny, and Kat, okay?" He said to her. She nodded.

"Lee, if you come across anything to drink, if there's a dining car or something, I think Duck's a bit dehydrated." Katjaa said.

"It's a freighter, hon." Said Kenny. "Be careful in there." Kenny directed to Lee.

"What? You think there could be something dangerous inside an abandoned locomotive?" Lee joked. "Hadn't crossed my mind." He said to himself.

Lee and Ben went to go work on the train to see if they could get it moving, and possibly even use it for transportation instead of the RV.


	22. Chapter 22

While everyone else was getting comfortable and resting up, Lee and Ben were working on the train to see if they could get it to work or not. After an hour of effort, they actually got it to work. During that hour, Lee did find something to drink for Duck and he even found a box of animal crackers in a car. In that car was a trapped walker. It was trapped because it was buckled up in the car seat.

Lee went to go find a map to see where the train was heading if it stayed on the tracks. Right as when he found one, he heard a voice behind his, talking to him. It wasn't none of the group members because Lee could tell how they sound by now. It was a stranger. Lee turned around to see who it was.

"You touch any of my stuff?" The man. It was an old man. He had gray, almost white looking hair. He was wearing a yellow jacket with a red undershirt, brown cargo pants, and brown whole finger gloves. He looked as if he was a homeless man.

"Just the map of the train route." Lee answered honestly.

"Oh that's okay. I don't need it." The man said. "The name;s Chuck, by the way. Charles, if you're fancy."

"Lee." Lee said, telling him his name.

"That your crew outside?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah." Lee answered.

"And the guy up in the cab?" Chuck asked referring to Kenny.

"Him, too." Lee said.

"I saw you walking through out here and thought about scaring the pants off of ya." Chuck stated.

"What?" Said a confused Lee.

"But I couldn't bring myself to do it." Chuck said.

"You're still kinda freaking me out..." Lee said.

"Train folk'll do that. Already met up with everyone outside. They all warmed to me right quick in direct sunlight." Chuck informed.

Chuck then left out the boxcar and joined the rest of the group. Lee followed after him. Chuck also had a ukulele. Clementine got up and went to Lee as he approached everyone.

"You met Chuck!" Clementine said.

"Yeah, I did." Lee said as he nodded.

"It's so nice to meet someone normal for a change." Katjaa pointed out.

"He gave us candy. Ben, too!" Clementine told Lee. Lee looked at Ben, who was eating the candy. The candy was Nerds. Clementine went to sit besides Naje, who was sharing Nerds with her. He poured some into Clementine's hands and she ate them. Chuck then got up and went to Lee.

"Welcome." Lee said to him.

"Thank you." Chuck replied.

"You met Kenny?" Lee asked.

"Sure did. Man shares my love of the road." Chuck answered.

"That's for certain." Lee said. Lee went to Naje and Clementine.

"Want some, Lee?" Naje asked him as he showed Lee the Nerds. Lee held his hand out and Naje poured some into them. Lee ate them.

"Those are good. Thanks." Lee said. Naje nodded and went back to sharing with Clementine.

Duck, who was still being held by Katjaa, started coughing. Chuck went over to them and squatted down.

"I'm awfully sorry your son's not feeling well." Chuck said to Katjaa.

"I appreciate your concern." Katjaa said.

"But with a little TLC, he'll be just fine." Chuck said. Kenny came over to join the rest of the group.

"And I can offer yall whatever I got, although it ain't much." Chuck informed them.

"Thank you. We'd like to do the same." Katjaa said.

"Why don't we hold off on..." Kenny began.

"Stay with us. We'd like the company." Katjaa said.

Kenny looked at Katjaa and then Duck. He then went to stand next to one of the boxcars. Lee followed him.

"So that's it? We're cut loose?" Kenny asked him.

"Seems that way, yeah." Lee said.

"Well alright. Let's get a move on." Kenny said. Lee and Kenny went back to everyone else to get them ready to move out.

"We don't have much left so just gather whatever you have." Kenny said to everyone. "Let's go." He added. Everyone got up and stood next to the boxcar. Ben was the first to get on it.

"Want a ride?" Kenny directed to Chuck.

"Well it seems like you're taking my home." Chuck joked.

"That's a yes then." Kenny said.

"Haven't found anything better for keeping the creepy-crawlies out than that boxcar." Chuck replied. He then got onto the train. Clementine walked up to Lee.

"Duck's sick.." She said.

"Get on the train, Clementine." Kenny said to her. Naje lifted Clementine up so she could get on. He then got himself onto it.

"He's getting sicker." Katjaa was now carrying Duck as if he was a baby.

"Let me look at him." Kenny said. Kenny looked at Duck's face. He wasn't looking so good. He was getting a bit paler. Kenny looked a bit surprised.

"We can't ignore this, Kenny. This is happening." Lee said.

"Ain't nothin' happenin'! And if it were, what can we do here? We can on the train and we find something better. THAT is the plan." Kenny went on.

"I think Lee just wants to talk it through." Katjaa said softly.

"It's talked through. Get on, Kat." Kenny said. Katjaa couldn't help but look sad. "I'll be up front. I don't wanna hear any nonsense until we get where we're going." Kenny added. He made his way to the cab of the train.

Katjaa went up to the boxcar. "Naje, could you help us get on here?" Katjaa asked politely.

"Sure, Katjaa." Katjaa handed Duck to Naje and he held him in a cradle position. Ben grabbed Katjaa's hand and helped her on the train. "Thank you, Ben." Katjaa said to him. Katjaa went to go sit in the corner.

"Okay, let me see him." Katjaa said, calling for Duck. Naje gently handed Duck to Katjaa. "Thanks, Naje. I appreciate your help." Katjaa said to Naje.

"No problem." Naje replied. Naje looked at Katjaa and Duck and looked quite saddened. He then looked at Clementine and sat next to her. She laid her head on his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Lee went to Kenny. "It's all yours." Kenny said. Lee pushed the throttle and the train began to slowly move. They looked at each other and looked ahead. But Kenny, thought about Duck and made a sad face. Everyone in the back looked at one another. Katjaa just kept her attention on Duck. The train just rolled on.

Ten minutes went by. During those ten minutes, there was only silence. Chuck finally decided to break the silence.

"Gotta be hard on ya, eh? Four adults taking care of three kids." Chuck said. "No disrespect, son." Chuck directed to Ben.

"There were more of us." Lee mentioned.

"Dead get'em?" Chuck asked.

"No.." Lee replied.

"Oh. Livin got'em." Chuck said.

Duck then started coughing up a bit of blood.

"LEE! Lee. I need you. Right now. I need you to go get Kenny." Katjaa cried out a bit.

"What's..." Lee said.

"Could you get that off his face, please? My hands are full here." Katjaa said. Lee grabbed a clean rag and wipe the blood off of Duck's mouth.

"Thank you." Katjaa said. "He's out of time. We need to stop this train."

"Okay." Lee agreed.

"Please." Katjaa added.

Lee made his way up to Kenny in the cab part of the train. He opened the door and Kenny didn't even looked back to see who it was.

"You need to stop the train." Lee ordered. Kenny looked back with an angry look and looked back up ahead.

"I said stop the train." Lee repeated. Kenny popped up out the chair and looked at Lee.

"Make me." Kenny said. Lee didn't take that too kindly, so he pushed Kenny into the wall and held his forearm up to his throat choking him.

"I told Katjaa I'd stop this train and you bet your ass I'm gonna." Lee said. Kenny tried to punch Lee but Lee blocked it.

"I don't give a fuck whether we don't get along or had each other's backs, I'm not lettin' you do this to Kat and Duck" Lee told him. Kenny went for another punch but Lee blocked it again.

"You wanna hurt people because you're afraid! Losing Duck ain't enough for you 'cause you'll fucking lose everything acting like this. I'll fucking kill you before I let that happen!" Lee shouted at him. He was choking Kenny more and more. He then released. Kenny slid down to the ground gasping for air.

"I'm sorry.." Lee said. Kenny got up and looked at Lee. Kenny then pulled the throttle to stop the train.

Kenny went out and climbed down the ladder. Lee followed. The rest of the group were already either standing out of the boxcar or sitting on the edge of it. Duck was laying down on his side. Katjaa had her hands on the side of his head. Lee and Kenny walked up to them.

"Ken. It's... I think it's time." Said Katjaa. Kenny looked at Katjaa and Duck with a saddened look.

"The boy's been bit. In case you haven't figured that out yet." Kenny said to Chuck.

Chuck looked at them, crossing his arms. He then looked away and held his head down looking at the ground.

"Take as much time as you need." Lee said.

"Ain't no time left to waste." Kenny said. "What are we gonna do?"

"We can't allow him to become on of those things." Katjaa stated.

"But what if... what if he doesn't?" Kenny said in denial.

"Kenny, I love you very much. I love our son more than life itself." Katjaa said. "I need you to hear me. What you are saying, that he might not turn, is foolish." Katjaa added.

"But-." Kenny said.

"No." Katjaa said, interrupting him.

"There's... come on Kat..." Kenny cried.

"If you think of something, you let me know." Katjaa said.

"Isn't there some sort of pill, or something we could just give him..." Kenny said.

"Stop it." Kajaa begged.

"He can just drift off to sleep, right hon? I mean, Jesus, this is our son." Kenny mentioned.

"I KNOW. But we know it's here..." Katjaa pointed to her head. "Or nothing.." She finished.

"Well... fuck... just... who then? You want me to?" Kenny asked.

"You don't have to." Katjaa assured him.

"I'll do it." Kenny sadly volunteered.

"NO. You don't have to.." Katjaa said.

"I'll do it." Lee said.

"No. It should be a parent." Katjaa told him.

"No parent should have to do something like this." Lee pointed out.

"Lee's right, Kat. We can say our goodbyes and... just let that be..." Kenny said.

"I don't know... Lee, you'd be doing this family a great service." Katjaa stated.

"Why don't we take him into the forest. So Clementine doesn't have to see." Katjaa said.

"Yeah.." Kenny agreed.

"Give us a moment to say goodbye?" Katjaa kindly asked Lee. Lee nodded.

"Of course." Lee said.

Katjaa gently rubbed Duck across his cheek and picked him up like a baby. Ben looked down at the ground and Chuck looked on. Katjaa slowly began carrying Duck into the forest. Kenny walked along with her. Duck had enough strength to lift his head up a little and wave goodbye to Clementine and Naje. They waved back at him. Then Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck went out of sight. Clementine hopped off the train and walked up to Lee. He squatted down to talk to her.

"What's happening?" She asked Lee.

"I'm going to take care of Duck." Lee answered her.

"I thought he was going to die." Clementine said.

"I'm going to make sure he's okay." Lee said.

"But how... he's bitten." Clementine mentioned.

"By making sure he doesn't come back." Lee stated.

"Oh." Clementine said as she looked down at the ground.

"Look, Clem. Things will-" Lee said but was cut off by a gunshot sound in the woods. Everyone looked on in curiosity. "What the-" Lee said.

"NO!" Kenny hollered from the woods.

"Naje! Take Clementine into the train!" Lee said to him.

"Roger. Come on, Clementine." Naje said.

"Go. It'll be fine." Lee said as he ran off into the woods. Clementine watched him as he ran. Naje then helped her onto the train.

Lee ran until he saw them, he then stopped and looked in shock at what he had seen. Katjaa was on the ground... dead. She had shot herself in the head.

"KAT! KAT! KATJAA!" Kenny cried. Literally. He had tears in his eyes. Lee looked over at Duck who was sat up to a tree. Kenny had a hand on Katjaa's shoulder.

"Why, Kat? Honey, of fuckin' God..." Kenny cried. Kenny put his head down as he was crying.

"What the hell happened?! What did you-" Lee began.

"She couldn't, she just, fuck, oh fuck..." Kenny said. Kenny closed Katjaa's eyelids. He looked over at Duck. He picked up the same gun Katjaa sadly used on herself. He got up and walked up to Duck. Lee also walked up to him. They looked at him.

"What do we do." Kenny said.

"Give me the gun, Ken. I'll do it." Lee softly said. Kenny handed Lee the gun. Kenny took a few steps back. He was looking on and off at his son. Lee looked at Duck and took a breath. He finally pointed the gun at Duck. It took his some seconds to pull the trigger, then he finally did. Lee looked awfully sad and then he looked at Kenny. Kenny had his hand over his mouth as he looked at Duck. Kenny wiped some of the tear from his eyes. Kenny and Lee looked at each other. Kenny turned around and headed back to the train. Lee followed after.


	23. Chapter 23

Minutes later, everyone had been settled back on the train. Chuck was standing at the front of the train, Kenny was in the cab where the controls to the train were, Ben was standing at the back of the train of the first one, and Clementine and Naje were in the boxcar. They were sitting on the edge of the doorway of the boxcar with their legs outside of the train. They were joined by Lee.

"You two okay?" Lee concerned himself about them.

"Not really.." Naje answered.

"Yea I could say the same for myself." Lee said. "You okay Clem?"

"Uh huh." Clementine said.

"You understand what happened?" Lee asked.

"Yes.." Clementine replied.

"Okay." Lee said. "What are you thinking about?"

"What Chuck said." Clem said.

"What did Chuck say?" Lee asked her.

"That what happened to Chuck would happen to me." Clem said. Lee and Naje got quite angered.

"The fuck?" Naje said.

"The fuck he did." Lee said.

"Swear." Clementine pointed out.

"Sorry." Naje and Lee said simultaneously.

"I'm gonna go talk some sense into him." Lee said as he stood up.

"Don't be mad." Clementine said to him. Lee headed out.

"Don't listen to that old geezer, Clem. He doesn't know anything about us. He doesn't know what we've been through since this apocalypse began. We've made it this far, haven't we?" Naje went on. Clementine nodded her head but was still looking unsure.

"As long as me and Lee are here, you're safe." Naje assured her. Clem nodded and smiled.

Few minutes later after having a word with Chuck, Lee came back.

"Hey guys." Lee greeted them.

"Did you talk to him?" Clem asked him.

"Yeah, I did. He had some, uh... He explained himself and made some good points." Lee said. "Look, Clem. We're not gonna let anything bad happen to you."

"That's right." Naje said.

"But there are some precautions we have to take." Lee stated.

"Okay, yeah, that makes sense." Clementine agreed.

"Don't worry, sweetheart." Lee said.

"Okay, what are we gonna do?" Clem asked Lee.

"Well, we're going to figure out a plan for when we get to Savannah, teach you how to protect yourself and, uh, tidy you up a bit, so you can't get grabbed so easily." Lee said.

"I'd like that." Clementine said while nodding her head.

"Good." Lee replied. Lee stood up. "You need to know how to protect yourself." Lee told her. Clementine stood up as well.

"You mean, like, hiding or running away? Got it." Said Clem. Naje chuckled.

"I mean with one of these." Lee said as he pulled out his handgun. Clementine looked a bit nervous. "First, don't be afraid of it. It's just a thing. Take it." Lee informed her. "But know where our finger is all the time. And don;t put it on the trigger unless you want to hurt someone." Lee added. Clementine calmly take the gun.

"Or something." Naje added. "Like the walkers."

"Yeah." Lee said.

"Okay. Okay.." Clem said while holding the gun.

"See? Not so bad, is it." Lee said.

"It's heavy." Clem pointed out.

"You'll get stronger." Lee assured her. "To aim, you look right down the top, through that notch."

"Line up the site at the end of your target." Lee added.

"Is there anything else I should know?" Clementine asked.

"I know these are just bottles, but you have to aim for the head." Lee said.

"I know. Only the head." Clem said.

"Unless it's not a walker and just someone trying to hurt you." Lee said.

"And then..." Said Clem.

"Head or body. Anywhere." Lee told her.

"I don't wanna think about that." Clem said as she cringed a little.

"You're right. It might be too much for your first day. You ready?" Lee said.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Clementine said. Lee went to go put up an empty beer-like bottle Chuck had. He put the bottle on a stack of crates. Lee was gonna use that for Clementine's shooting practice. Oddly enough, Chuck had multiple empty bottles. Lee then went behind Clementine and placed his hands on her shoulder. Clementine extended her arms out all the way and aimed the gun at the bottle.

"Good. Don't lock your elbows though." Lee said as he loosened up her elbows. "Okay, let's take your first shot. Squeeze the trigger smoothly and I'll cover your ears. Nice and easy." Lee covered Clementine's ears. Meanwhile, Naje was just looking on to see how Clementine's first time shooting a gun would be.

"Nice and easy." Clementine repeated. She took her first shot and missed the bottle by a margin. But not too far. She hit the box, at least. "EEP!" She screeched.

"You okay?" Lee asked her.

"My hands hurt. I don't like this." Clementine said.

"Let's stick with it, okay?"Lee said to her.

"Do I have to?" Clementine moped. She turned back around and aimed her gun at the bottle again. Lee unloosened her elbows again.

"Yeah, you do." Lee said. Lee remembered how her last shot went so he wanted to make sure she adjusted her aim.

"Aim a little more to the left." Lee told her, which she did. "Now aim higher." She aimed higher and pulled the trigger. She got the bottle this time.

"I got it!" Clem excitedly said. Naje clapped after her successful shot.

"Excellent, good shot." Lee praised her. He then went to put up another bottle so she could do it again. She aimed the gun at the bottle. He loosened her elbows again. She seems to keep forgetting. Then Lee covered her ears. She took another shot but missed this time. Lee calculated the shot though.

"Keep it steady. Almost got it." Clem stayed still. "Now aim a little higher." Lee said. Clem did so and took a shot and she got it.

"There you go, nice." Lee praised her again.

"Good job." Naje also praised her.

Lee went to go put another bottle up. This was gonna be the last shot for now. Clem aimed the shot and extended her arms out all the way again. Lee loosened her elbows once more then he covered her ears. Without being told anything, Clementine took the shot and got it.

"I did it!" Clementine happily said.

"Yeah, you did. Good job." Lee praised her once again.

"I just pretended they were walker heads." Clementine said.

"Just like you should." Lee replied.

"They're not walkers though." Clem pointed out.

"No. Far from it. But you know how these things work now. We'll graduate you to walkers one day." Lee informed her.

"Okay. I feel good." Clementine said.

"Not so scary, is it?" Lee said to her.

"Nuh uh." Clementine responded. She handed Lee the gun back.

"Way to go, girlfriend." Naje said to Clem.

"Thanks, boyfriend." Clem said back. Naje held his hand up and Clementine gave him a high-five. She sat back down next to them. Lee then sat with both of them.

"Oh, and Clem. There's something else. You're probably not gonna like this." Lee said.

"Oh no, what happened?" Clem said.

"Nothing. We need to talk about your hair. It's not safe." Lee said. Clementine frowned.

"That's not nice." Clementine implied.

"What?" Said Lee.

"Are you saying it smells?" Clem said.

"No." Lee said in an assuring voice.

"Because it does. Kinda." Clementine said. Lee smiled and shook his head a little.

"Do you remember when Andy St. John grabbed it? And Naje and I got mad?" Lee mentioned.

"Yes." Clementine said.

"Well that could happen again. And if it's a walker, well... We need to trim it." Lee said.

"Just a trim, right?" Clementine asked.

"Well I need to cut it short enough so it can't get grabbed." Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine said as she sighed a little.

"Mind if we do this now?" Lee asked.

"I guess not." Clementine moped.

"Don't mope. It's a good thing." Lee assured her. Lee pulled the scissors out that Chuck told him about while he was talking to him. Clementine came in all the way and got on her knees. She took her hat off and laid it to the side of her. Lee knelt down behind her and began to carefully cut her hair.

"Do you know how to do this?" Clementine asked him.

"How hard can it be?" Lee said.

"I'm going to look like a boy." Clem said.

"No you won't, Clem. Remember, like Lee just said, this is for protection." Said Naje.

"Yeah. I know. You're right." Clementine said. "So you did kill someone, before." Clem directed to Lee.

"Yep." Lee quick replied.

"I'm glad you finally told me." Clem said.

"Me, too." Lee replied. Naje just listened to the words that Lee and Clementine were saying.

"You've killed lots of things before. It doesn't even matter." Clem stated.

"Killing is bad no matter what." Lee informed her.

"But you do to protect yourself, and to protect me." Said Clem.

"It doesn't make it good." Lee responded.

"But you have to." Clementine said to him.

"I do it because it's necessary. And walkers aren't people." Lee told her. "Alright, I think I'm about done. I could probably tie these pieces up with something."

"Here, I have some hair thingies." Clementine told him as she handed Lee the rubber band.

"You do?" Lee asked as he took the bands.

"Yeah. Lilly gave them to me for sleeping." Lee tied Clementine's hair up into two pigtails.

"There, all set." Lee said. Clementine felt on the back of her head. She slouched and made a little grouchy face.

"Does it look dumb?" Clementine asked them both. Naje shook his head no.

Lee rubbed the top of Clem's head. He chuckled a bit. "No. You look cute. And a lot harder to grab." He said. He gave her back her hat. Lee then went back to sit on the doorway of the boxcar's door along with Naje. Clementine went and sat in between them.

"Your hair's a lot safer now, Clementine. That's another thing to be happy about." Naje said to her.

"I'm sorry about your hair. I think it looks cute though." Lee added.

"Exactly.' Naje agreed.

"My mom's not gonna like it." Clementine said.

"What a crappy day." Lee said to them both.

"You said it." Said Naje.

"The crappiest." Clementine agreed.

"Clem, if three months ago I'd have known what you'd be seein', I don't know if I would've taken you with me." Lee said.

"I probably would've run out of food." Clementine implied.

"You damn near starved with me." Lee unproudly said.

"I'm glad I came with you." Clementine said.

"I'm glad I was at the drugstore when you guys showed up. If I weren't there, I don't know where I'd be right now. And I'm the only one left from the drugstore group before you guys came.. The others are either dead or departed from us." Naje pointed out.

"I'm glad you're with us too, Naje." Clem said to him.

"I'm glad too." Lee said. "My old student."

"Yeah yeah." Naje said with a smile. "Thank you guys by the way."

"We're all that's left now. For as long as we're a group, we need to always look out for each other. Like we've been doing." Lee pointed out.

"Right." Naje and Clementine said at the same time.

"And guys; I wanna talk to you both about Savannah." Lee announced. Clementine got happy.

"Me, too." She said.

"Alright. Let's talk." Naje said.

Lee came all the way inside. He got o his knees and pulled a map out of Savannah and laid it out on the floor. Naje and Clementine joined him. Naje was beside Lee and Clementine was beside Naje.

"We need to talk about what we're gonna do when we get there. We don't know what to expect. The city could be bad or totally under control." Lee said. "The thing is, we three, we're a team, ya know? And a team needs a plan." Lee added. "And aside from everyone else, when this train stops, we three should know exactly what we're gonna be doing."

"A plan. I like it." Clementine said.

"I like it, too." Naje agreed.

"Good." Lee said as he chuckled a bit. "Clem, I think we should look for your parents."

"Really?" Clementine said with astonishment.

"Yeah. You need to know if they're okay. And, well, if they're not, what happened to them." Lee said to her.

"I'm sure they're okay." Clementine positively said.

"Yeah. It's best to stay positive." Lee implied.

"That's what dad always days." Clementine mentioned. Clementine looked at Naje and he didn't seem so excited about the plan. Clementine placed her hand on his shoulder and gave him a few pats.

"Yeah. Let's look for your parents, Clem." Naje said.

"Let's look at the map. If we can figure out where they were, we can start from there." Lee told them. He was moving his finger around on the map."It looks like we'll come right through town if there's nothing on the tracks to hold us up. Now we've got a good chunk of Savannah here. What do you guys think?"

"They always stay in the same place when they go there." Clementine said. "It's uh... hmm." Clementine was thinking.

"Hey, don't worry, we'll figure it out." Lee said. "Have you ever been there?" Lee asked.

"Once." Clementine replied.

"Well, think about it. There are a lot of hotels on here, but read this map and maybe it'll jog your memory." Said Lee.

"They've got really tasty desserts. It's called the M..M something...Mar..." Clementine struggled thinking of the team. Naje directly pointed his finger on a certain part of the map where Clementine was talking about.

"The Marsh House?!" Naje said.

"Yes that's it!" Clementine excitedly said.

"I've been there before!" Naje said. "Once you said "tasty desserts" I knew what you were talking about then. And they really do have some tasty desserts."

"So we'll head there then?" Lee asked them.

"Yes!" Clementine happily shouted.

"You think we have a good plan here?" Lee asked, again.

"I think it's very good." Clementine implied. Naje nodded his head.

"I think so, too." He said.

"We got a plan then." Lee confirmed. The three all gave each other high fives.

"Can I... tell my parents? You know." Clementine said.

"Sure, go ahead." Lee said. "Alright. How do yall feel?" Lee asked them.

"I feel fine." Naje said.

"Good. Better. I'm glad we have a plan." Said Clem.

"And you're a good little shot." Lee directed to Clementine.

"Thanks." Clementine said.

"And your hair is cute." Naje added.

"Thanks to you too, Naje." Clem said.

"But most of all, it's safer. Which means you're safer." Naje also mentioned.

"That's right." Lee agreed. "Alright. I guess we should see how far-" Lee began until he was cut off by Kenny from the cab.

"OH SHIT! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!" Kenny shouted through out the train. Next thing, we threw the brakes of the trains on. Lee, Naje, and Clementine held onto each other to make sure that no one fell. They got off the train to see what the problem was.


	24. Chapter 24

The train was slowly stopping and it eventually did. The group got off the train and saw what the problem was. The problem was a petroleum tank truck, which was hanging off of a road bridge, was blocking the tracks.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK! FUUUUUUCK!" Kenny yelled in frustration.

"Maybe we could walk?" Ben suggested.

"That's fucking stupid, Ben." Kenny said.

"I'm just sayin..." Ben said.

"Hmm. I dunno. I ain't got much experience with yall's fortitude but we could probably deal with that. We got a goddamn train." Chuck now suggested.

"That thing's not full of milk, Charles. That's gas or diesel. Something that's gonna explode." Kenny pointed out.

"You gotta get a hold of yourself. This is a crew here." Chuck said. Kenny walked up to Chuck.

"This ain't shit." Kenny implied.

"THIS-" Chuck said until he was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

"Yo, you keep screaming like that and you're gonna get your face chewed off." Said a guy from on top of the bridge. He was with a lady. The man was oddly shorter, too.

"Are you guys going to be trouble? Because we could've just kept walking." The unknown woman said.

"No, we're friendly!" Lee said.

"That's what everyone says." The unknown woman said.

"We know." Said Lee.

"Let's give the guys a break." The man said to the woman.

"We'll see." Said the woman.

"You guys got a problem with your train?" The man asked.

"Yeah. You're standing right in front of it." Kenny pointed out.

"Dude, it's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here." Said the man. "Send your buddy up to have a look." He referred to Lee. Lee went to head for the ladder that led to the bridge. Kenny held his arm out in front of him to stop him for a moment.

"If anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape." Kenny told Lee. Lee went to the ladder and put his hands and foot on it. Then he looked up at them.

"When I come up there, you better not be murderers or thieves!" He shouted.

"I guess you'll just have to find out." The woman said. Lee began to climb on up the ladder.

"A group of guys is what we need." The man said to the woman.

"They're what you think we need. We're doing fine." She replied back.

"For now. What about when-" The man said until he was cut off by the woman because Lee had made his way up.

"Quiet." She said to him.

"Hey dude, I'm Omid." He greeted himself.

"And I'm Christa." She also greeted herself.

"Lee." Said Lee.

"What's the deal with the train?" Christa asked.

"We're riding it." Lee answered.

"Oh, man." Omid astonishingly said.

"I'm not going to bullshit you. Our group's a little fucked right now. We had a bite victim and then his mom took her life and before that, just..." Lee went on.

"It's okay." Christa said.

"Oh, shit. Goddamn, you guys have a kid!" Omid referred to Clementine as she had went up the bridge.

"What are you doing up here?" Lee asked her.

"Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a kid? Shit! What's your name?" Omid went on.

"Clementine." She said.

"Oh, so he get's to swear." Lee joked as he crossed his arms.

"Well, this is great. See, things are looking up." Omid said to Christa.

"You're not her dad. He down there?" Christa asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Lee asked.

"To me." Christa said.

"And no, I'm not." Lee responded.

"Hmm. What's your story?" Christa asked Lee.

"I found Clementine the first day this all started. We've been together ever since." Lee answered honestly.

"And everybody down there, they're cool?" Christa asked.

"We just met Chuck." Lee said as he pointed to him.

"I use to love meeting new people..." Omid stated.

"I also have an old student of mine down there. Naje." Lee added. "It's been rough for everybody down there. I'm sure you can say the same."

"We're sorry for anything that's happened to you guys." Omid said. "The train looks awesome though."

"That tank is your real problem. We'll help you with it." Christa volunteered. "But if we see anything we don't like, we're moving on down the road. Alone." She added.

"We'd appreciate the help." Lee gratefully said.

"You can't just blast through it, I guess." Omid pointed out.

If you could get it down, the rest should be easy." Christa said.

"We'll start there." Said Lee.

"We'll come down and settle in, and see if we can help." Christa said to him. They all made their way down the ladder and made their way to the others.

"Guys, this is Omid and Christa." Lee introduced. No one said anything. They just stared.

"Not big a welcomes.." Omid mumbles while rubbing the back of his head.

"Like I said, it's been a bad day." Lee reminded him. "These two are joining us."

"Don't speak so soon. But we'll see." Christa said.

"You want to start in on that tanker?" Omid asked.

"Yeah, Lee. We should do something about that." Naje said.

"I'll get to know the girl for a bit, if you don't mind." Christa said.

"And why don't I show you how this thing works, in case something happens." Kenny directed at Omid referring to the train.

"Really, Kenny?" Lee said.

"It's probably for the best." Kenny said. Kenny made his way back onto the train to the cab part. "Someone might wanna have a look at that train station out there, too."

"Sounds great." Omid stated.

"Alright. Ben, you're our lookout. Chuck, you keep playing your guitar, I guess. Kenny teaches Omid about the train. Christa getting to know Clementine. And me and Lee will check out the train station. Everyone has SOMETHING to do so let's get to it." Naje speeched.

"Look at you. Sounding like a leader." Lee joked.

"I may have sounded like one but I don't think I could be one. I'm good with just being a team player." Naje said.

"Let's go check out the train." Lee said.

"Alright. Let's go." Naje replied. Lee and Naje made their way to the station.

"Can I follow you two over there?" Clementine asked them from behind. They stopped and turned around.

"You don't like the new girl?" Lee joked again.

"I do, but it's like we're a team. Like you said. And I overheard Naje saying he's a team player and well now so am I." Clementine answered. Lee and Naje both smiled.

"Yeah. Alright. Come on. We'll all go. Together." Lee said. "Naje, Clementine, and I are checking out this train station, alright? Hustle over if you hear anything." Lee informed everyone else. The three began to walk to the train station. Clementine went straight to the station and stood outside the door as Lee and Naje lagged behind. Naje was staring at the signs on the walls as he walked on by.

Lee and Naje caught up to Clementine, who was working on the door to get it unlocked.

"You should wait for one of us before trying to open doors." Lee told her.

"Sorry." Clementine replied.

"Well luckily it's locked." Lee pointed out.

"Yeah. We'll get better at working together. Our chemistry as a team will build up." Naje said. Clementine nodded her head as she stepped aside. Naje and Lee worked on getting the door open. Naje put his hands on his sides and hummed; looking around to see if he could find a way in. He spotted a window above the door and pointed at it.

"Up there." He said. Lee looked up and saw the window as well.

"A window, huh?" Lee said.

"Maybe I could look in?" Clementine volunteered.

"Why don't you stand on one of mine and Naje's shoulder so you could peek into the window." Lee said.

"Sounds good." Clementine replied.

Naje and Lee lifted Clementine up. She stood on one of Lee's shoulder and one of Naje's shoulder.

"Okay, I can see in. What do I do now?" Clementine said.

"What do you see?" Lee asked.

"I see crates, and a cell." Clementine told them.

"Maybe we can find a key to this door or figure out a way to knock this door down. Kenny'd probably have me pick a lock." Lee went on.

"You know how to pick locks, Lee?" Naje asked.

"No. Kenny just once assumed I did." Lee said.

"I bet if you forgot your classroom key, you'd know how to pick a lock then." Naje said as he laughed at his own joke. Lee also laughed.

"I probably would've had no choice but to. May be picking locks won't be so bad. I mean-" Lee said.

"I think I opened it." Clementine said.

"Really?" Lee said.

"I think so." Lee and Naje put Clementine down.

"I had enough time to while you guys were talking." Clementine mentioned.

"Good work Clem. We're getting better as a team already. And our chemistry's going up." Naje and Clementine high-fived each other.

"Let's go. Be careful." Clementine said to them.

"I'm suppose to tell you that." Lee said. Lee and Clementine smiled at each other.

Naje opened the door and walked inside. Clementine followed, then Lee. They surveyed the place a bit. The door began to close. When it closed, the place got pretty dark.

"It's too dark in here..." Naje pointed out.

"Yeah. We need something to prop the door open." Lee said. Lee used the monkey wrench he got from the train to hold the door open.

"Smart." Naje said. The three began to look around. Naje looked in the cell. He saw a blowtorch.

"Hey Lee, I found a blowtorch. It might help us taking that tank down. What do you think?" Naje said. Lee unintentionally ignored him. Lee was looking at the cell with quite intensity.

"Lee?! You okay, man?" Naje asked. Lee shook his head to snap out of it.

"Oh.. uh, yeah. I'm fine. I was just, uh, looking at this cell; thinking that.. if this world wasn't so fucked up now, I would be behind one of these right now.." Lee went on. Naje and Clementine looked at each other then they both looked at Lee.

"Honestly, that's what I had in mind when I looked at the cell. But I didn't wanna bring that up. It sounds just as worse when you bring it up though." Naje said.

"Yeah.." Lee said as he sighed.

"Lee, you're with us now. You've been given a second chance basically. You haven't disappointed either." Said Naje.

"Thanks. But still.." Lee said. Naje gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Like you told everyone, it's been 3 months now. Let it go. You have me and Clem. Don't let the past worry you too much. Live for today and hope for tomorrow." Naje speeched.

"Wow man you can do a speech. I really liked the way you put that." Lee said.

"Well I played football in high school and we were all about motivational speeches. Almost everyone on the team could make one. I was one obviously as I just showed. Thought I could show off my skills." Naje said.

"Well you're good at it." Lee said.

"Thanks. But about the blowtorch. There's one behind the cell. You see it?" Naje said.

"Yea I see it." Lee responded. Lee tried opening it, but it was locked.

"I've already tried opening the door. It's locked just like the door to this place was." Naje said.

"Dammit. We see what we need. We just need to find a way to get through here." Lee stated.

"Well lucky enough for us, I found a pair of keys on that little hanger right there. Must be keys to this door. I also found a little space up top that "someone" can fit through." Naje said. Naje and Lee looked at Clementine. Her eyes switched from one of them to the other. She already knew what they had in mind. So all she did was shrug.

Naje and Lee lifted Clementine up on their shoulders and she went over to the other side of the cell.

"Chemistry baby." Naje blurted out. Lee looked at Naje and shook his head, but with a smile.

"Go on and grab they keys, Clem." Lee said. Clementine nodded. Then she made a terrified face. Lee and Naje was confused as to why she was looking like that.

"Turn around you guys!" She shouted. Naje and Lee quickly turned around and saw two walkers creeping up on them.

"FUCK!" Naje shouted. He pushed one of the walkers to the wall.

"SHIT!" Lee also shouted. He pulled out his gun, but the walker swatted it outta his hands and the gun slid underneath the cell. Lee pushed the walker away momentarily. He went for the monkey wrench he used to prop the door open. He hit the walker with it 3 times in the head. Ultimately killing it.

Meanwhile, Naje used one arm to hold back the walker by the throat and pulled out his gun with his other hand and shot the walker through the temple. He released and the walker slid down to the ground. Naje took a deep inhale and exhale.

"You alright?" Lee asked.

"Yeah. Are you?" Naje said.

"I'm fine." Lee answered. Lee and Naje looked at Clementine. She was holding up the gun in her hands as she trembled. Naje walked up to the cage and wraps his hands around the bar of the cell.

"Clem..." Naje said softly. "We're okay. Everything's okay now." Clementine lowered the gun and sighed of relief.

"Yea sweet pea. It's over now." Lee added. Lee looked over and saw that there was a walker in the cell with Clementine and it was slowly walking towards her.

"Keys! Now!" Lee shouted. Clementine quickly grabbed the keys and handed them to Lee through the bars. Lee grabbed them, unlocked the door with them, then opened the door. Clementine swiftly got out. Naje tackled down the walker, stood on it's chest with one of his legs, and shot it in the head killing it.

"Ugh! How did we not see it in there?!" Said a frustrated Naje.

"That didn't go so good." Clementine said.

"No, it didn't." Naje agreed.

"But we're okay. Everything's okay." Lee said, as he put a hand on each other their shoulder. That calmed the two down.

Christa came barging in the door. "What's going on? I thought I heard a few gunshots." She said.

"We're fine." Naje told her.

Christa looked around and saw the three dead walkers on the floor.

"Just some walkers. That's all." Lee pointed out.

"You three versus three of them, huh?" Christa curiously said. Lee, Naje, and Clementine looked at one another then looked at Christa.

"Yep." Naje said.

"We handled it." Lee said.

"Yeah, but what if you hadn't?" Christa said.

"You trying to get at something, lady?" Naje said.

"Nah. Not at all." Christa said.

"Good." Naje replied.

"I'm going to go make sure the noises didn't cause us any problems." Christa said.

"That's a good idea." Clementine said. Christa smiled at her then nodded. Christa turned and was on her way out. She turned back around and looked at them.

"I hope you guys know what you're doing." Christa implied.

"What the fuck's that suppose to mean? You don't know us." Said an angered Naje.

"We're still alive, aren't we?" Lee said. Christa shook her head. "Yeah. I guess you both are right." Christa then headed out.

"The fuck was that all about?" Naje said.

"Beats me." Lee said.

"Swear.." Clementine pointed out.

"Sorry Clem. I just hate when people think they know you when they really don't. We've been together for months and she just met us maybe like 20 minutes ago." Naje ranted.

"Calm down, man. Remember your motivational speech skills. Say one in your head and just calm down." Lee inferred. Lee then went and picked up the blowtorch.

"What did we learn today?" Lee asked.

"That I'm not ready for a gun..." Clem said.

"No, Clem. We learned that everything we will ever do is dangerous. We'll get better, smarter and faster. Okay?" Lee said.

"Okay." Clementine said. Naje nodded.

"Camaraderie." Naje mentioned.

They all finally headed out the station and back to the train. Lee went up to the bridge with Omid and Naje and Clementine went and sat inside the train.

"I'm glad we came outta there okay. I was to scared to pull the trigger.." Clementine said.

"It's alright. It was a scary moment. There's no need to feel shame." Naje said.

"It was. But still feel like I could've done something." Clementine said.

"Like Lee said, we'll get better. That isn't gonna lower our chemistry points." Naje teased. Clementine giggled a bit.

"Yeah. I'm glad I have you guys." Clementine stated.

"Same here. Just when or if we find your parents, don't forget about us. We wanna be remembered. I know I'll never be able to forget the time I had with the group-" Naje said until he was cut off by Ben.

"Guys! Walkers coming! Looks like a thousand! We gotta go!" Ben panicked. Then there was a loud thud outside. It was the sound of the tank falling down and out of the way of the train track. Luckily, it didn't explode. But it did leak a little.

"Kenny go!" Lee shouted from outside. Kenny cut the train back on and it slowly started moving. Lee kicked down the blowtorch into the gas and flames burst from the ground.

"We gotta jump." Lee said to Omid as they stood on the edge of the bridge.

"What?! No way!" Omid implied.

"Fine. You stay here and we'll go with your lady." Lee teased.

"Like hell you will." Omid said. He jumped off from the bridge to the top of the train, but didn't land on his feet. He fell off the train. Lee then jumped o the train and got into the boxcar.

"Christa!" Christa said when she saw Omid on the ground. She got off and helped him up. He was limping to the train. Lee grabbed his hand and helped him on. Christa was getting left behind a little but she found her second wind and caught up to it. Christa reached out her hand and Naje grabbed it and helped her onto the train as well.

"That.. was a LOT of them.." Christa pointed out.

"Are you hurt...?" Clementine asked.

"No, we're fine." Lee assured her.

"Speak for yourself. My leg is fucked." Omid said.

"We're fine, Clementine. We're fine." Christa told her.

A while went on by. Lee and Clementine were in the cab. Everyone else was in the back. Clementine was sleeping in one of the chairs. They had all finally arrived in Savannah. Lee looked over at Clementine and saw her backpack right below her. It was open and he saw a few drawings in there sticking out. Lee got up and to see what they were. One was a drawing of Kenny, Katjaa, and Duck holding hands together.

Kenny and Naje entered the cab with them. Naje looked over at Clementine sleeping and smiled. He then looked forward with Kenny. They both realized where they were coming up to.

"Next stop, the Atlantic." Kenny said.

"We're finding Clementine's parents when we get there. Me, her, and Naje." Lee directed.

"I thought they were dead." Kenny said.

"Looking for them, then." Naje said.

"Well, it's our. We already talked it through." Lee mentioned.

"Yep." Naje said.

"It's gotten too bad, you know? You, me, nobody can take all this." Lee said.

"But we have." Kenny said.

"What we're suppose to do isn't clear anymore. I'd give anything to go back to fighting over the motel." Lee said.

"So would I." Naje agreed.

Kenny sighed. "Me, too.." He said.

"I'll leave you to your thoughts." Lee said. Lee went over and looked at Clementine.

"She's out cold like I've never seen." Lee said. There was suddenly a strange noise coming from her backpack. Lee looked inside and it was Clem's walkie talkie. He picked it up. Naje and Kenny looked surprised.

"Hell...o...ooo..there?..." Said a voice from the radio.

"What the..." Lee said.

"Fuck.." Naje finished for him.

"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I've got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me whether Lee wants you to or not. Now, what I need-" Said the voice.

"Holy shit..." Lee said.

"I thought that fuckin' thing was broken." Kenny said.

"I did too." Lee said.

"Who the fuck was that.. if he's convinced Clementine that he has her parents.."

"Yall might wanna rethink your plan." Kenny suggested.

Then they all looked out the window and saw the city getting closer and closer, with questions running through their heads.


	25. Chapter 25

A while longer went on by and the group was already in Savannah. There were busted cars in the streets. The streets were kinda messy. It was so quiet you could hear a pen drop on a pillow. There was no one in sight. The group was led by Kenny. They were following Kenny because apparently he knew where the riverfront was. So he knew there had to be boats there. Naje had Omid's arm around his neck and was holding him by the wrist with his other arm on his side. Omid's leg was still pretty battered. Clementine was walking beside Lee. Lee had her walkie talkie clipped to his pants pocket.

"Can't I just hold it?" She asked him. He just looked down at her then looked forward again without saying a word.

"Just for a little while? We're getting really close to where my mom and dad are. Maybe I can..." Clem said.

"Not now, Clementine. Maybe later, okay?" Lee replied.

"Okay.." Clementine said softly.

"How's Omid?" Lee asked Christa.

"His leg's pretty bad." She responded.

"I'm fine." Omid assured her.

"You're not fine. You need to rest." Christa said to him. "He needs to rest." She directed to Lee.

"Kenny, how much farther?" Lee asked Kenny.

"Should be just a few more blocks ahead." Kenny answered.

"And there'll be boats there?" Christa asked curiously.

"Sure as hell better be." Lee said.

"I know that's right." Naje added.

"There has to be boats. Has to be." Kenny said with hope.

"It's going to be okay. Kenny knows what he's doing." Ben said.

A moment after the group heard a bell go off. It was a tower bell.

"What the hell...?" Ben said.

"Maybe this city's not so dead after all.." Christa said.

"Keep moving. No one's ringing those bells. It's automatic. On a timer." Kenny told them.

Lee looked at his wristwatch. "What kinda church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?" Lee asked. Lee then looked up and saw someone running across the rook of a building. "Someone's up there!" He blurted. Everyone else looked up.

"Where? I don't see anybody." Naje said.

"Hey! Hey you up there!" Lee shouted while waving his arms.

"Dammit Lee, keep quiet! You're gonna-" Christa said. She was interrupted by the sound of the walkie talkie.

"If I were you, Id get outta the streets. Now." Said the voice on the radio. Lee put the radio close to his mouth.

"I thought you said that thing didn't work." Christa said.

"Who the hell is this?" Lee said into the radio. No reply was given. "Hello? Hello?! I said answer me dammit!" Still, no reply was given. The group all stood in silence, looking around their shoulders. The only thing that was heard was the tower bells that were still going off.

"What the hell was that? Is someone trying to fuck with us?" Omid said.

"Sounded more like a warning." Said Ben.

Chucked turned his head and saw something. "Ask not for whom the bell tolls..." He said.

"What're you yammerin' on about?" Kenny said. Everyone then saw the same thing that Chuck saw and looked quite surprised.

"It tolls for thee..." Chuck finished.

Then there were walkers coming up ahead. They appear to have been attracted by the sound of the bell so they made their way to it. But since the walkers saw the group, they made their ways towards them instead. But the thing is, the bell had already stopped.

"Everybody, RUN!" Lee ordered.

He didn't have to tell them twice as everyone took off. Naje and Omid were shooting walkers while Naje was still helping him walk. Kenny shot a walker while he was on the run. Lee stopped then looked at Clementine. She stopped and looked up as him as well. Lee was thinking if it was the right time for her to put what he taught her into play. But he just looked forward and they both started to run again.

Chuck was using his shovel as a weapon to knock away the walkers. Kenny was running until he was tripped up by a grounded walker. Kenny fell and dropped his gun. The walker still had a hold of Kenny's ankle and Kenny was trying to grab his gun. He used a stop sign pole to give him better leverage.

Lee saw what was happening. "Kenny!" He shouted. Lee aimed his gun at the walker's head and shot it. Kenny then pulled his ankle free of the walker's grip.

"Little too close, don't ya think?" Kenny said.

"Ben!" Screamed Clementine. Ben and Clementine were surrounded by some walkers closing in on them.

"Ben! Help her!" Lee shouted to him. Ben looked at Clementine then looked around in panic as the walkers were getting a bit closer. He just looked down, closed his eyes tight, and ran off, leaving Clementine behind.

"Goddammit!" Lee yelled. Lee then began to the walkers that were close to Clementine. Naje then came to help Lee shoot them. But there was one walker getting too close. Clementine screamed in fear. Naje and Lee then came running to Clementine.

"Clementine!" Naje cried.

"Nooooo!" Lee cried.

Thankfully, Chuck came to the rescue by knocking the walker upside the head with his shovel, knocking it down. Chuck then stabbed the walker through the chest with it. When Lee and Naje came, they had a quick group hug with Clementine.

"Get her the hell out of here! I'll catch up with ya!" Chuck said. Clementine ran off with Naje. Lee looked at Chuck, not so sure. Chuck gave him a nod.

"Move your asses!" Kenny shouted. "River Street's right up ahead!"

"That's not the only thing up ahead..." Naje said. There were more walkers coming.

"Oh give me a fucking break!" Kenny cried.

"Wait, where the hell's Chuck?" Christa asked. Everyone looked back and saw him fighting off the walkers.

"Shit! He's in trouble, we gotta help him" Omid said. Omid and Naje started shooting some of the walkers close to Chuck. Meanwhile, Kenny looked around and saw a nearby gate close to them. The gate was a gate to a house.

"There's no time! We gotta go, now!" Kenny said.

"I'll be fine! Just go!" Chucked said. Naje and Omid stopped shooting their guns. The rest of the group made their ways to the gate.

"I'll get the door." Kenny said. He opened the door for everyone and Lee closed it when everyone got in. Omid tripped on the way in. Kenny and Ben went straight to the door to try to get it opened but the door was boarded up.

"You okay?" Lee asked Omid. Naje helped him sit up. Christa crouched down to check on him.

"Ugh.. Yeah." Omid said.

"You've opened up your wound! You're bleeding!" Christa pointed out. "Shit, that's gonna get infected. We've gotta get him inside, clean him up."

"Kenny, how that door coming?" Lee asked.

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it!" Kenny quickly answered.

"Well work faster, would ya?" Christa said. "It won't be long until those things out there figure out where we went. You know they can smell blood."

"Lady, I ain't the one that's bleeding!" Kenny said. Kenny and Christa gave an intense stare at each other.

"Let me see if I can find a way in." Lee said. Kenny went back to working on the door and Christa went back to checking on Omid. Naje got up and looked at Ben, who had his back turned. Naje marched his way up to Ben like a madman, forced Ben around and tightly grabbed him by his shirt. Naje forcefully pressed Ben against the windows, which was also boarded up.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't bury you into the damn ground!" Naje shouted.

"Look, I-I panicked. I didn't know what to do, they were closing in.. I was scared.." Ben said in fear.

"What a poor fucking excuse! You put Clementine in danger! Leaving her behind. What if something happened to her?! Something would've happened to you as well! Hell, something might happen to your ass right now!" Naje screamed as he put a tighter grip on Ben's shirt.

"Naje!" Lee shouted.

"What?!" Naje said without looking at Lee.

"Let him go. We have to find a way to get inside this house." Lee said. Naje was still holding Ben by the shirt.

"Hey, remember your motivational speeches." Lee reminded him.

"What do they have to do with anything?" Naje asked.

"Because maybe a little motivational will help us get inside this house." Lee said. Naje looked down and thought about it. Naje looked at Ben then slowly let go of his shirt. Naje then straightened it up.

"I don't dislike you Ben. But if anything like that EVER happens again with Clementine, you won't have to be scared of the walkers anymore. You'll be scared of me." Naje warned him.

"Okay.. Sorry." Ben said.

"And now Chuck's still out there doing something you were too scared to do. Who knows if he still alright." Naje said. Naje shook his head, took a breath and went back to check on Omid with Christa.

Now everyone was waiting around outside to see if Kenny and Lee could find them a way inside.


	26. Chapter 26

After Naje was done talking with Ben, Lee decided to confront Ben himself about what happened out on the street. Ben was in the bushes, checking the windows to find a way into the house.

"Ben." Lee called him. Ben turned around and faced him without saying anything.

"About what happened out there on the street.." Lee mentioned.

"Oh no, not you now. Look, I don't know what happened back there. I just... froze up. Hasn't that ever happened to you?" Ben said. Kenny overheard Ben and started to get depressed. He knows how it feels to freeze up because back at Hershel's farm a few month ago, he saved Duck and not Shawn, Hershel's son. Now Shawn is deceased and Kenny feels that it's all his fault.

"Just hear me out. If you put that girl in danger again, it won't just be the walkers or Naje you'll have to worry about." Ben assured him.

Ben got wide-eyed for a second. "I hear you." Ben said.

"I'm gonna go check things out. You keep working on the windows." Lee told him.

"Alright." Ben replied and he turned back to the window.

Lee went to check on Clementine, who was standing at the gate that the group came in from.

"Do you think the dead people saw us come back hear? Are they going to find us?" Clementine worried.

"No, they didn't see us. We were too fast for'em." Lee calmly said.

"I can still hear them out there. It sounds like they're getting closer." Clementine said.

"It's just your imagination." Lee said.

"I'll feel safer when we're inside the house." Clementine said.

"We're gonna get in there, Clem. Someway, somehow." Lee replied.

Clem went to sit on the ground next to Naje, who was with Omid and Christa already.

Lee went to Kenny, who was working on the boarded up door. "Any luck yet?" Lee asked him.

"No... not yet. This door seems secured and the boards don't even budge." Kenny said. Lee looked down at the door and saw something odd.

"What's this down here? Looks like there's some kind of pet door." Lee pointed out. Kenny looked down and saw what Lee was talking about.

"I tried it already, that's locked too." Ben said. Lee crouched down to get a better look at it.

"Who the hell ever heard of a locked doggie door?" Kenny said.

"I have. My neighbor had one just like it. It's radio-controlled, the dog wear a collar with a chip in it so the door only opens when the dog gets close to it." Omid informed.

"Well, shit. Every day's a school day." Kenny joked.

"I know that's right." Naje agreed. He smirked and shook his head.

"Alright, so... where's the dog?" Ben asked.

Lee surveyed the area and saw a grave next to a doghouse. He grabbed a shovel nearby and made his way to the grave. Lee stuck the head of the shovel into the ground and sighed.

"Hey, be careful. Digging up dead things isn't what it used to be, know what I mean?" Omid said.

"Yeah, I hear you." Lee said. He started digging. Clementine, Naje, Kenny, Christa, and Ben all came to get a closer look. Omid stayed where he was. On the ground.

"What's buried down there?" Clementine asked.

Lee was done digging and they all just looked down at what was buried. A dead dog.

"Whatever it is, it's been here a while." Lee said.

"Ew! I can smell it from here. Gross!" Clementine said in disgust.

"Clem, honey. Why don't you sit with me and Omid. Let Lee work." Christa said. Clementine then went over to Christa and Omid.

"Oh God, the smell." Ben mentioned.

Lee stuck the head of the shovel in the pile of dirt Lee dug out. He crouched down to observed the dead buried animal. Lee cautiously reached in and grabbed the collar with his index, middle, and ring finger and tried pulling it off.

"Ugh... I can't get it off." Lee said. After that, the dog's head was cut off due to how loose it's neck was.

"Okay, that is NOT cool." Ben said.

"Jesus.." Said Lee. Kenny and Naje just made disgusted faces. Christa puked from the sight and smell of it.

"Are you okay?" Clementine asked Christa.

"I'm fine, honey. It's just the smell." Christa answered her.

"Are you sure you=" Omid was about to ask.

"I said I'm fine, okay?" Christa said as she cut him off.

Lee walked to the door and held the collar up next to the doggie door. The light on it went from red to green, which meant it was unlocked now.

"Yes! Goddamn!" Kenny shouted with excitement. Clementine got up to get a better look. Lee stuck his head in through to door to see what was inside.

"You see anything in there?" Naje asked.

"No. Looks like it's been empty for a while." Lee said.

Christa heard outside of the walls the walkers were getting closer. "Whatever you're doing, do it fast..." She said.

"Okay, lemme see if I can reach up in there." Lee said.

"Be careful, man." Ben told him.

Lee reached through the door to see if he could reach the knob from the inside.

"Dang-it. I can't reach up to it.." Lee said.

"Here, let me try. I think I can.." Ben said.

Before Ben could finish the sentence, Clementine went into the dog door without hesitation. Everyone had a slight worried look on their face.

"Clem! Are you okay? Say something!" Lee said. There was no reply from Clementine. But shortly after, she unlocked the door from inside and opened it up.

"Ta-da!" Clementine said as she held her arms out. Naje gave her a round of applause with a smile on his face.

"Good job, Clem!" Lee praised her.

"Yea, way to go!" Ben also praised her. Kenny nodded his head with a smile on his face as well.

"I did good, right?" Clem asked.

"Yes you did. You did good." Lee assured her.

"That's teamwork at it's finest." Naje added.

"Can we maybe have this conversation inside?" Omid asked. He got up off the ground on his own. "My leg's starting to hurt like hell."

Kenny went inside to make sure if it was safe to go in. "Looks okay from here. Everybody in." Kenny gently ordered.

Everyone made their way into the house and Lee closed the door after everyone entered.


	27. Chapter 27

After everyone made it inside the house, Omid saw a couch in what supposedly is the living room to the house and made a beeline for it. He didn't run though. He was still limping. Christa followed him to it and carefully laid him on it. He was slightly groaning in pain.

"Sorry, sorry." Christa said.

"No, it's okay. I'm good. Feel better already just being off my feet. Thanks, babe." Omid said to her.

"You were sitting on your ass outside for about 10 minutes and now you wanna say you feel better?" Naje joked. He had made his way into the living room with the two.

"You mean sitting on the ground? This couch feels much better. Because it's soft. Or at least softer." Omid said.

"I was just teasing you.. But good point." Naje said.

After Christa notices that Naje was keeping Omid company, she went to the kitchen where Lee and Kenny were to talk to them about the radio. Ben and Clementine were also in the kitchen but in a separate room. In the kitchen nonetheless.

"So, when were you gonna tell us about the radio?" Christa asked the two men.

"Tell you what?" Kenny fired back.

"That it's working!" Christa said. "That there's someone on the end of that thing. You didn't think that might've been worth sharing with the rest of us?"

"I was going to tell you. Kenny, Naje, and I only found out yesterday." Lee answered honestly.

"He's telling the truth." Naje said, backing Lee up as he came in after hearing his name said.

"So all three of you were keeping it from us? Great." Christa said with a bit of disappointment.

"Who gives a shit about the damn radio? I'm more worried about whoever it was out there ringing that bell and bringing the dead down on us! It's like they didn't want us to make it to the river..." Kenny went on.

"What makes you think it's not the same person? Whoever was on the radio was close enough to see us in the street. And we didn't see anyone else other than the guy in the bell tower." Christa also went on.

"Or at least Lee was the only one to see him. Or her." Naje pointed out.

"I couldn't get a good look at them either." Lee said.

"That doesn't even make a lick of a damn sense!" Kenny said referring to what Christa said. Why would they bring out the dead like that and then try to warn us about it?" Kenny said.

"I don't know who it was. All I know is, they're no friend of ours." Lee said.

"Damn right. I'm telling you, they don't want us getting to the river. Maybe they want those boats all to themselves. Well, we'll see about that." Kenny said.

"I'm not going back out there any time soon. Omid needs to rest." Christa told him.

"I think we could all use a little time to rest up and gather our thoughts, Kenny. At least until those walkers outside clear out and Omid's feeling better." Lee said.

"Yeah." Naje agreed.

"He'd best feel better quick. I ain't gonna wait around here too long.

"Place seems secure at least." Ben said from the living room. He was checking some of the places out to see if anyone else was in the house they didn't know about.

"I'll feel better when we know for sure. We need to check the entire house out." Christa suggested.

Alright, fine. You and me'll take the upstairs." Kenny was referring to himself and Ben. "Lee, you and Naje got down here. Make sure you check every door, understand?" Kenny said.

"Okay." Lee said letting Kenny know that he understands.

"Got it." Naje said.

Ben, Kenny, Naje, and Christa all departed. Clementine made her way to Lee after they all went away.

"Can I help? What if there's another locked door?" Clementine volunteered.

"I think you've been helpful enough for one day, kiddo." Lee told her as he rubbed the top of her hat. "Why don't you just see if Christa and Omid need anything, okay?" Lee asked her.

"Okay." Clementine said non-excitedly said. Then Clementine went to go sit with Christa and Omid.

Lee began checking the house out. Naje had the kitchen part. Lee spotted a big back of dog food on the counter top.

"Hey Lee, you hungry?" Naje joked as he pointed at the dog food.

"I'm not THAT hungry." Lee said with slight disgusted face as he looked at the dog food. Naje chuckled.

"I'm gonna go check the doors out." Naje notified him.

"Alright. I'll be there to help." Lee said.

Lee entered the room next to the kitchen with a grandfather clock and a huge round dining table with two bottles of whiskey on top.

Naje was in the room with Clementine, Christa, and Omid. Checking the doors in there. Lee entered and saw a double door room in the hallway.

"Hey Naje, did you check the hallway door out?" Lee asked.

"No, but that's the last one. I already checked the two in here. They're safe." Naje said. "Could you check it out for me?"

"Sure." Lee insisted.

"Thanks." Naje said to him.

Naje and Lee went to the double door in the hallway. Lee placed one hand on the knob and pulled his gun out with the other. He looked at Naje and Naje nodded at him. Lee the quickly opened the door and was surprised by a falling mop.

"Jesus!" Lee shouted with surprise. It made Lee jump back a little bit. Naje covered his mouth trying not to laugh, but he started laughing anyway.

"What? What happened?" Clementine said looking back.

"Lee got scared by a mop." Naje said while he was still laughing. Lee picked the mop up and stood it back up behind the door and closed it. Everyone else began to chuckle.

"Yeah yeah." Lee said as he rubbed the back of his head feeling a bit embarrassed.

"But on the bright side, we're done checking the house out." Naje said.

"Yeah. The place ain't got much. We should be okay here for a while, at least until it quiets down outside." Lee said.

"Good. Thanks you guys." Christa said.

Lee looked down at Omid. He was asleep on the couch.

"Is he okay?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, for now. But I'm really worried his leg might've gotten infect. Don't suppose you guys turned up on any meds while you were poking around?" Christa asked.

"Nah. Naje found some dog food though." Lee said.

"Yep." Naje confirmed. "Must've been for the buried dog..."

"Yeah... And there's some whiskey on that table back there." Lee added.

"We don't need none of THAT stuff." Clementine said. Christa had crossed her arms and started at Clementine.

"I was just asking Clementine if she knows who the man on her radio is. It's okay, honey. You can tell us. Who is he? What does he want?" Christa said.

"Yeah, Clem. Tell us a little something about'em." Naje said.

Lee crouched down. "Go ahead Clementine. It's okay. You're not in any trouble." Lee told her.

"It's... just a friend. I don't think he wants to hurt us." Clem stated.

"What has he been saying to you? What have you been saying to him?" Christa said.

"I told him I was trying to find my parents, and that they were in Savannah. He really seems nice, I think he wants to help me find them." Clem went on.

"Clementine. Honey, trust me, that's not what he wants. He-' Christa began.

"LEE!" Ben shouted while storming down half the stairs. Lee came running to him.

"Lee, you need to get up here now." Ben told him.

"What's wrong?" Asked Lee.

"It's Kenny." Ben said.

Lee and Ben went upstairs. They were standing there, looking at a ladder that led to the attic.

"Kenny said he thought he had heard something up there, went to go look." Ben said.

"He's up there?" Lee asked. He started walking to the ladder.

"I can't get him to come down." Ben said.

"Stay here." Lee told him. Then Lee started to climb up the ladder to see what was the problem with Kenny.


	28. Chapter 28

When he got to the top, Lee poked his head up and saw Kenny right in front of him. Kenny was down on both of his knees. Staying there motionless.

"Kenny?" Lee called him. Kenny didn't respond. He didn't even turn around. Lee then came all the way up to the attic.

"Kenny? You okay, man?" Lee called him again. And again, no response by Kenny. Kenny was staring a whole into something. Lee walked up closer behind him. Lee smelt something and covered his nose.

"Jesus.. What the hell is that-?" Lee looked up and found out what the smell was and what Kenny was looking at. It was a walker. A little boy walker. But there was something different about this walker. He was so skinny that you could literally see his back bone, ribs, just about every bone in his body. It was so weak that it could even stay up on it's feet.

"Kinda looks like Duck, don't he?" Kenny said as he was still looking at the walker.

"It's just a kid. What the hell happened to him...?" Lee asked.

"Ain't nothin' on'em. Guess he must've been hiding up here. Starved to death."

"Jesus Christ..." Lee said.

"I don't know if I can, Lee. Couldn't do it before. Can't do it now." Kenny said. Referencing about what happened to Duck.

"I can't ask you to do this, man. I'll take care of it. Like I did before." Said Lee.

Kenny looked up at Lee. "Are you sure?" Kenny asked him. Lee turned around and looked at the walker.

"I guess we'll find out..." Lee said.

Lee walked towards the walker while Kenny was still down on his knees, looking on at what Lee's gonna do. As Lee was walking, he noticed some of the things around that kid may have used. Such as a sleeping bag and an empty bottle of water.

Lee finally made his way to do walker and put on a sad face as he crossed his arms. "Poor kid must have tried to hide out up here until he starved to death. This probably could've been Clementine if I hadn't found her when I did."

Lee looked back at Kenny, who was already looking on. Then Kenny looked down to the ground.

Lee placed his foot on the walker's head while it was still down. The walker was scratching on the leg part of Lee's pants. "I'm sorry.." Lee said. Then Lee stepped down on the walker's head and put it out of it's misery.

Kenny got up and walked closer to the sight. Lee and Kenny were both looking down at the dead walker.

"We should bury him." Kenny suggested.

"I'll take care of him." Lee said. Lee lifted the dead walker up in a cradle-like position and made his way down the ladder. Kenny didn't move. He just stood there and looked down at the ground.

As Lee was walking by the others, they noticed him carrying the walker. Clementine looked a bit frightened and Naje looked confused. But no one said anything. Lee just walked out of the house.

Lee walked over to the dog's grave. That's where he was gonna bury the dead walker. Lee had already left the grave dug up when he was looking for the dead dog. He laid the walker next to the dog. He grabbed the shovel that was sticking into the pile of dirt he left. Lee took a final look at the boy and the dog and started piling the dirt on them to bury them.

The door of the house had opened and Lee turned back to see who it was. It was Clementine. She was looking really saddened. Then Naje and Christa followed up behind her. They all looked on for a few seconds and went back into the house together. Lee was still outside burying the boy and the dog though.

Lee was finally done. He ironically looked over at the gate and saw someone standing there. Just standing there and looking at him. Lee was a bit scared and confused. Lee came up closer and then the person took off running.

"Hey! Hey!" Lee shouted. The person had already gone out of sight.

"Who are you?! What the hell do you want from us?!" Lee shouted out. Christa, Ben, and Naje came running outside to see what the fuss Lee was making was all about.

"I saw someone outside the gate. Watching us. Watching me." Lee said.

"Was it a man or woman?" Naje asked.

"Didn't get a good enough look. The way they moved, too fast to be a walker." Lee said.

"Could it have been the guy that's been following us? The voice on the radio?" Christa thought.

"I don't know, they didn't say anything. Just stood there, watching. Creepy as hell." Lee stated.

The mansion door had opened. It was just Kenny. He was still looking pretty depressed.

"Kenny?" Ben called.

"I'm fine. Just... I'm fine." He said. "What's all the ruckus?" Clementine walked out shortly after Kenny, standing behind him.

"Lee thinks he might have seen someone out there, spying on us." Ben answered.

"Maybe it's that goddamn bell-ringer..." Kenny said.

"Man, remember when walkers were what we were afraid of? Those are starting to seem like the good old days.." Ben said.

"Well, to hell with this. I'm not gonna let whoever it is out there keep us from getting our boat. We've holed up here long enough. I'm headed down to River Street." Kenny said.

"I don't know if Omid's well enough to move yet." Said Christa.

"Well he'd better get ready. Because I'm going down to River Street right now to find a boat." Kenny repeated. "And as soon as she's ready to go, we're moving out." Kenny added.

"I'm with Kenny. The sooner we find a boat, the sooner we get the hell outta here." Lee said.

"Damn right." Said Kenny.

"I'm in too." Naje agreed.

"I hate to say it, but Kenny's right." Christa said. "Omid's not in great shape to move, but we can't do anything for him here. Without meds or a doctor, he's only gonna get worse."

"Alright. It's a plan then. Me, Naje, and Kenny will head out to River Street to find a boat. Once we find one, we'll come back and let you guys know. Then we're all heading out." Lee said.

"Let's just hope we actually do find one..." Naje said.

"Oh, we will find one. We have to." Kenny assured them.

"And Christa , get ready to have Omid start moving. Just in case." Lee said.

"I'll try."

"What about me? What can I do?" Ben asked.

"You'll stay here with the rest of the group. You'll only slow us down." Kenny told him.

"Or leave one of us in danger." Naje said, referring to when Ben left Clementine out on the street earlier surrounded by walkers. Ben was starting to feel bad again.

"Naje..." Lee said. Naje just looked at Ben and crosses his arms.

"Wait, can't I come? My mom and dad can't be far now. Maybe we can look for them on the way to the river." Clementine suggested.

"Clem, honey, I think it'd be best if you stayed here with Ben. I need you to watch out for Christa and Omid, help them get ready to move out." Lee advised.

"You said I'm always suppose to stay close to you.." Clementine reminded him.

"I know. It's just this once. Sometimes we have to put aside what we want for the good of the group. Hey, don't worry. I'll be back before you know it. Okay?" Lee went on.

"WE'LL be back." Naje corrected Lee while putting his arm around Lee's neck. Lee smiled and patted Naje on his chest."

"Okay. We'll be back." Lee said.

Clementine smiled and responded, "Okay."

"Daylight's burning. Gonna go grab my gear, then we'll head out." Kenny said.

"By "grab gear" you mean gun, right? If so, then I'm gonna go grab my gear as well." Naje said.

"C'mon Clem. Let's go see if Omid needs anything." Christa said.

Naje, Clem, Kenny, and Christa all went back into the house. Ben stayed outside with Lee.

"So, you're just gonna leave me on the bench here?" Ben said.

"That's not how it is, Ben. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Clementine." Lee said.

"I can do that." Ben assured him.

"Well, just so we're clear. While me, Naje, and Kenny are gone, anything or anyone tries to get inside this house, you shoot them. Don't even think twice about it. Understand?" Lee said to him.

"I've got no problems shooting walkers." Ben said.

"Did I no make myself clear enough? I said anything or anyone." Lee repeated.

Ben nodded his head. "Got it."

"Good."

Ben then went back into the house. As he went in, Naje and Kenny came back out.

"You gentlemen ready?" Lee asked.

"Yep" Naje said.

"Let's head out." Kenny said.

The three men then went outside of the gate and started heading down to River Street to find a boat.


	29. Chapter 29

As Naje, Lee, and Kenny were heading down to River Street, Kenny stayed silent. Naje and Lee did most of the interacting and small talks, but Kenny said nothing. Unless one of them spoke to him first. Lee and Naje both took a few seconds to check up a car. It was broken up. Tires, doors, and windshields missing. The cover of the engine was propped up for some reason. Kenny just kept walking, slowly with an intense look om his face. Naje and Lee looked at Kenny then looked at each other. They eventually caught up to him. They stayed behind and let Kenny lead the way. Lee finally decided to break Kenny's silence.

"Hey, so... you wanna talk about it?" Lee asked.

"About what?" Kenny said.

"About what happened back there. In the attic." Lee said.

"No." Kenny replied.

"You sure, man? I mean-"

"River's right up ahead." Kenny interrupted.

Seconds later, a town bell rung. It sounded similar to the first one when the group first arrived at Savannah. Then all the men stopped. Kenny pulled out his gun and aimed it at a direction. Naje pulled out his gun as well.

"Son of a bitch. That bastard's fucking with us again. It's another trap." Kenny said.

"No. Listen. That's not the same bell as before. This one's farther off. Whatever it is, it's gonna get the dead moving over there."

At the end of the street, there were walkers walking, but they weren't going towards the three men. They were going straight to the sound of the bells. They then hid behind a wall to avoid being spotted.

"What in the hell is going on?" Kenny said.

"I have no idea. But someone must be ringing those bells." Said Lee.

"Whatever, man. I find whoever's doing that, I'll ring their motherfucking bell for'em." Kenny replied.

"Good one." Naje said. Once the walkers cleared on, they got a move on again.

"Hmph. Let's keep movin'." Kenny said.

Kenny and Naje were walking forward as Lee was walking backwards to see if any walkers were walking up behind them.

"Still nothing moving behind us. I think we're- Oh my God." Lee said. Lee responded the way he did because the men arrived at the dock on River Street, but there were no boats from what they were seeing. Lee put his hands in the back of his head. Naje just put his hands in his pocket and blew out a breath.

"There's gotta be a boat... There's gotta be." Kenny said still staying positive.

"Are you sure about that? It doesn't look like it to me. I think maybe we should start thinking about a plan B." Lee suggested.

"This is the plan, Lee! It's the best shot we got. You said so back at the house. You agreed with me!" Kenny responded angrily.

'Yeah but that was before-" Lee said but couldn't finish because Kenny ran off to the deck. Naje and Lee ran behind him.

Kenny was checking out a boat that he found, but the boat was half sunken and had a wooden post pierced through it when a pointy top.

"This one might still be salvageable." Kenny thought.

"Seriously?" Lee said.

"You got a better fucking idea?" Kenny said. "I'll check it out. Lee, you look further along the waterfront. Maybe there's something at the end."

"I don't think we should split up too far." Lee said.

"We don't have to. See that telescope? You can see all the way along the waterfront from there. See what you can find." Kenny said.

"Okay." Replied Lee. Lee went on over to the telescope.

"Naje, you're the lookout. Let us know if you see anything or anyone coming up on us."

"I'm on it." Naje said.

As Lee was making his way to the telescope, he found a barrier of dead and alive walkers impaled on spikes. He also saw a wooden board sign beside the barrier that said "STAY OUT" spray painted in red.

"What the fuck? What is this meant to be, some kind of warning? Who would do something like this?" Lee said to himself.

Lee went back to the telescope to use it to look out to the waterfront. But the telescope wasn't showing anything because like most telescopes, it needed a quarter to be used.

"Great." Lee sarcastically said. "Needs a quarter to work."

Lee then walked around to see if he can find anything that took coins. He found a cash register. He looked inside but it was empty. Naje noticed Lee having trouble.

"Looking for something, Lee?" Naje asked.

"Yeah, a quarter. I need one to look through the telescope." Lee said.

"Oh." Naje reached into his pocket, pulled out a quarter, and gave it to Lee. "Here you go."

Lee took the quarter. "Thanks.. Uh, where did you find this?" Lee asked.

"Found it earlier in the sofa when we were checking to house to see if it was safe. Loose change, man. I actually found four of them. So I just instinctively took them since it's the apocalypse and there's no use for them." Naje went on.

"You're one of a kind, Naje. Glad to have you around." Lee said.

"Thanks, Lee."

Lee was heading back to the telescope until Naje stopped him.

"Hey Lee?" Naje called him.

"Yeah?" Lee answered.

"This is probably no knucklehead question, but how do you think Kenny's holding up?" Naje asked.

"He's going through a lot, man. He just recently lost his son and wife." Lee said.

"We're all going through a lot." Naje assured him. "And yes, I feel bad for Kenny because he lost his family, but the rest of us has lost ours, too. He's just been a bit bossy lately."

"He's just trying to do what's best for the group because he doesn't wanna lose us either." Lee said.

"Lee, did you find anything yet?" Kenny shouted.

"I haven't looked yet. I needed a quarter for the telescope."

"Well c'mon, man. We don't have all eternity."

"See?" Naje pointed out.

"He's just a bit on edge." Lee said.

"Yeah yeah. I need to be on lookout. I'll notify you if I see anything or anyone." Naje said as he walked off.

Lee went back to the telescope, but before he could put the quarter in, he heard a yell by Kenny.

"Fuck!" Kenny yelled in frustration.

"What's up with the boat?" Lee asked him. Kenny walked over to Lee and Naje came over as well to see if there was a problem.

"It ain't gonna work. Hull's cracked beneath the water line, plus someone stripped out the battery." Kenny said.

"So you can't fix it?" Lee asked. Kenny looked past Lee and saw the barrier of impaled walkers that Lee saw earlier. Naje noticed it too.

"What the- what the hell is that?!" Kenny said.

"A fate worse than death..." Lee replied.

"What kinda sick minded fuck would even-.. good grief." Naje said as he sighed and shook his head.

Lee finally, without anymore interruptions, put the quarter into the telescope and looked into it. He was calling out everything he saw to Naje and Kenny. He even saw a boat, but he told him that it was too far out and it was non-salvageable like the one Kenny was looking at. Then, he looked at a hospital building, with someone standing at the top of it.

"What the hell?" Lee said. The person had a ice axe and used it to climb down from the building.

"What is it?" Naje asked.

"Get down, get down!" Lee told them.

Lee, Kenny, and Naje went down to hide behind a wall. Lee peaked over to see where the person was. They went into the newsstand.

"Why the hell are we hiding?" Kenny asked.

"Someone came down from that building at the end of the street." Lee said.

"Where'd he go?" Naje asked.

"Saw him go into that newsstand."

"Could be our bell ringer. How about we go find out?" Kenny suggested.

"We didn't come here looking for trouble." Lee said.

"Yeah well, it seems to have a way of finding us anyways. Look, this could be the guy from the radio, the one who's been messing with us. If he is, we can put it end to it, right now." Kenny said. "Okay, Lee you head up the middle. I'll go around the side, cover your tank. We'll come up on him quietly, take him by surprise. Naje, you lay back here, take cover from the back."

Kenny pulled out his gun. "We just wanna talk to this guy." Lee said.

"Yeah." Naje agreed.

"Oh we're gonna talk." Kenny said as he leaped over the wall and quietly rushed over to take cover at the corner of the building.

Lee went over the wall, Naje stayed behind the wall and peaked over it. Lee started sneaking up to the newsstand. As he got closer, the person ironically ducked down. Lee approached and pulled out his monkey wrench he got from the train they rode on to get to Savannah. He popped up with the wrench in the air, but the person had disappeared.

"What the.." The person had somehow sneaked up behind Lee and snatched the wrench out of his hand. They attempted to hit Lee with it, but Lee blocked it and hit the punch the person across the face, which caused them to drop the wrench. They came back with an uppercut, but Lee dodged it and punched the person down to the ground with one shot. Lee sat on the person and held his pistol close to their face.

"Lee." Came a soft and calm voice from behind. Lee looked behind him and it was Clementine. She was just standing there with her arms crossed.

"Clem?" Lee said with a surprised tone. Naje had a confused look on his face when he saw her. Naje came from behind the wall and ran over to her. She smiled as she saw him. They met each other halfway with an embrace.

Lee felt the person reach for something and he put the pistol even closer to their face. The person calmly and slowly pulled the hood of the jacket they were wearing from their head. It was a female, not a guy. Lee looked confused again after seeing the person was a female.

"You're not from Crawford." The girl said.

"You're not the guy from the radio. Who are you?" Lee replied.

"I'm not a guy at all as you can see." She said. "Mind if I get up?" She asked.

"Slowly." Lee said. Lee got off the girl and stood up. He kept aiming his gun at her. She eventually got up off the ground. She took the doctor mask she was wearing off of her face. Lee slowly lowered his gun. Lee turned around to Clementine and place a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile. She gave one back.

Kenny came from around the corner and aimed his gun at the girl. She sensed him coming behind her.

"Kenny don't!" Lee shouted. On instinct, the girl leg sweep Kenny's legs from under him, causing him to fall and accidentally firing his gun. The unknown girl pulled out her ice axe and attempted to hit Kenny with it until Lee stopped her.

"No! He's with us!" Lee said.

The girl crossed her arms and looked at the group. "Who the hell are you people?" She asked.

"I asked you first." Lee said.

"The name's Molly." She answered.

"Molly. I'm Lee. This is Kenny, Clementine, and Naje." Lee calmly said. "We're not looking for any trouble."

"Hi." Clementine said to Molly. Molly looked at Clementine, and then the rest. Clem raised her hand up and gave a momentary wave to Molly.

"You guys really aren't from Crawford, are you?" Molly asked.

"I don't even know what that is." Lee said.

"Everything beyond that barricade." Molly said pointing to the barrier of walkers.

"What the hell happened here?" Asked Lee.

"You really wanna know?" Molly asked. Lee slowly nodded his head.

"When everything started to go to shit, some people got together and sealed off that whole neighborhood. Folks willing to stay alive, stop the dead from getting in. I try to avoid'em." Molly informed them.

"Why?" Kenny asked.

"Let's just say they have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who won't - or can't - live by their rules." Molly said.

"So how'd you know we weren't them?" Naje asked her.

Molly turned and looked at Clementine. "Because there are no children in Crawford. Not anymore."

"What do you mean, no children? Why not?" Lee asked.

"No children, no elderly, no-one with an advanced medical condition. Basically no-one who might be a burden on the community. Crawford's all about the survival of the fittest. That's how they survived, while the rest of the world went to around them." Molly went on.

"Damn..." Naje said.

"Jesus Christ..." Kenny followed up.

"Well, just the opposite, when you think about it." Said Molly.

"What did Crawford do with all these "burdens?" What happened to them?" Lee asked.

"Well, you met some of them already." Molly said referring and pointing to the barrier of walkers.

"Oh that's just fucked up." Naje said.

"Fuck me..." Kenny said in disbelief.

"Yeah. Anyone who got sick, anyone too old, anyone they figured wasn't strong enough to survive. To them, those people were just mouths to feed, a drain on their precious resources."

"How do you know all this?" Lee asked.

"Everyone in Savannah knew. What was going on inside Crawford got passed around like a ghost story. Except this one was true." Said Molly.

The members of the group all just looked at one another. Can't believe the things that happened inside that place.

"Do you know who's been ringing those bells all over town?" Lee asked Molly.

"Yeah, that would be me." Answered Molly.

"I knew it! Lee, I knew she was the one who's been following us, fuckin' with us!" Kenny snapped as he pointed at Molly.

"Get that finger out of my face, grampa, before I jam it straight up your ass. I haven't been following you people. I don't even know who the hell you people are." Molly said.

"Calm down, Kenny. The voice on the radio was a guy, remember?" Lee mentioned.

"Yeah, well, ringing those bells this morning nearly got us all killed! Raised the dead all around us!" Kenny said.

"That's the idea, genius. It's how I get around. I ring a bell in one neighborhood to attract the local geeks toward it. Buys me some time to scavenge the areas they cleared out." Molly explained.

"Geeks? Is that what you call'em?" Kenny asked, with a light chuckle.

"Yeah. You know, like at the carnival. They'll eat anything, alive or dead." Molly said.

"That's true." Naje said.

"That's pretty smart, with the bells." Lee said.

"Doesn't take much to outsmart the dead. Bunch of dumb-asses. You just gotta move fast, get in and out before they start to wonder back again." Molly informed.

"Look, I'm gonna ask you people again: you're not from Crawford, so who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" Molly asked them.

"We came down here looking for a boat, hoping to get our people out of here and find someplace safe." Lee said.

"Psh. Good luck with that. Anyone with a boat took it out of here as soon as people started eating each other. Any that got left behind, Crawford stripped'em for parts. Same with cars." Molly told them.

"There's gotta be SOMETHING." Kenny said.

"If there was, do you think I'd still be here? I've been over every inch of this city. This whole place is picked clean." Molly said.

"Goddammit! Fuck!" Kenny shouted in frustration.

"Hey! Moron! You wanna keep your voice down?" Molly said.

Kenny looked at the boat he was trying to "fix" earlier. "Shit." He said under his breath.

"Since you're not getting on any boat, I'd advise you folks to go back where you came from before-" Molly was saying until she saw and heard a few walkers approaching.

"Great. Just great." Molly said. Everyone else turned around and saw them too.

"Isn't that-" Naje said until he was interrupted by Lee, because he knew what he was gonna ask.

"The way we came." Lee answered for him.

"Fuck! Gunshot must've brought them back." Kenny thought.

"Isn't there another way back to the house?" Clementine asked.

"Molly, is there-" Lee turned back and saw Molly running away. The group followed her. She went into a alleyway and used her ice axe to climb up a fire escape as if she was a ninja.

"Hey! You're just going to leave us here?!" Lee shouted.

"Sorry, I must have missed the part of our conversation where you became my problem." Said Molly.

"Don't leave us here! Please?" Clementine said as she beckoned. Clementine gave the puppy eyes and Molly couldn't resist them. Molly went down and extended her hand.

"C'mon! Make is fast!" She said. Lee gave Clementine a boost and Molly helped her up. The walkers were coming into the alleyway now. Next was Naje, who used his athletic ability to jump up to the fire escape and grabbed the rails to pull himself up. Molly helped him the rest of the way up.

"Oh, fuck me..." Kenny said.

"C'mon, c'mon, hurry!" Lee said. Then Lee gave Kenny a boost and Molly helped him on up as well. Lee was left there standing. The walkers were getting closer.

"Lee! Come on!" Clementine screeched.

Kenny reached his arm out to Lee. "C'mon man, one good jump!" He told him.

Lee reached up and grabbed Kenny hands, but they both lost grip, sending Lee back to the ground.

"Nooooo! Lee!" Clementine cried.

Lee went to push a dumpster out of the way and attempted to escape through the other end of the alleyway, but there were walkers coming from that way too. That stopped Lee in his tracks. Lee looked don below and noticed a man-hole sewer cover.

"C'mon Lee! Get your ass outta there!" Kenny shouted.

Lee tried to get the lid off with his bare hands but it didn't work. "Dammit! I can't get it open!"

"Here!" Molly threw her ice axe down to him. "Use that to pry it open."

Lee went down to pry the lid open with the ice ax, but a few walkers were getting too close. So Naje swooped down, landed on a walker to break his fall, and hit the walker over the head with the wrench Lee had, killing it.

"Nooooo!" Clementine cried.

"What the hell, Naje?!" Kenny shouted.

"Don't worry guys, I'm guarding him! They're getting too close." Naje said.

Lee managed to get the lid off. "We'll meet back up with you guys somehow!" Naje told them. Lee and Naje went down into the sewer.

"Lee! Naje!" Clementine shouted.

When they made it down, a walker fell down there with them. But they didn't have to worry as it fell face first into the floor and died.

"Clementine! Can you hear me?!" Lee called out. "If you can hear me, just get back to the house, okay? We'll meet you there!"

Lee turned back to Naje and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for backing me up back there, man." Lee thanked him.

"Don't mention it, Lee. Not a problem." Naje replied.

"But what is a problem, is we're stuck in a sewage facility now. And we can't go back up the way we got in because the walkers are still up there. So how else do we get out?" Lee said. Naje just looked at him and shrugged. Then they surveyed around the sewer and just let out a sigh, figuring out how to get out.


End file.
